When Something Changes
by donna8157
Summary: Modern Day AU. Kaoru and Kenshin are the best of friends. As time passes, Kaoru begins to realize that her feelings for Kenshin go much deeper than friendship. However, that is when the new girl Tomoe steps in. A KaoruKenshinTomoe story. CH 11 UPLOADED
1. Life and Death

**Disclaimer** : I don't own RK and I don't own "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai"

"When Something Changes"

**Synopsis: **Modern day A/U. a Kaoru/Kenshin/Tomoe story lightly based off the Bollywood film "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" Kaoru and Kenshin are the best of friends. As time passes, Kaoru begins to realize that her feelings for Kenshin go much deeper than friendship. However, that is when the new girl Tomoe steps into the picture.

~ WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES ~ 

**Chapter 1**

**"Life"**

Present day

"Waah!"

The sound of life.

"It's a girl," the doctor announced as he proceeded to cut the umbilical cord.

The woman smiled. Beads of sweat poured from down her milky-white forehead. Her husband sat down next to her and cupped his hand over hers. She gave him a weak smile.

The red-haired man looked at her. Tears could not stop falling from his eyes.

"Why? Why?"

The dark-haired woman gave another small smile. "Because Kenshin . . our child's life is important. I would gladly give my own if that means that my child can live."

Another warm tear fell onto the woman's hand.

"Why can't the doctors save the both of your lives? Why does it have to be this way?" he questioned in anguish. "It's . . it's not fair!"

The woman gave a light squeeze to her husband's hand. As she did so, Kenshin looked up. His amethyst eyes had become red from all the crying. The wife looked upon the husband sadly. She didn't want to leave so soon. She wanted to at least be able to spend some time as a family with Kenshin and her newborn daughter. But for Kenshin's sake, she didn't want to show that sort of melancholic expression. She didn't want this occasion to be a sad one. Instead of death, it was about bringing a new life into this world. 

Kenshin lightly brushed the hair from her face and the woman smiled.

"I love you," he said.

"I love you, too Kenshin," she replied.

A moment of silence passed between the two as they gazed into each other's eyes. The trance was too quickly broken when the doctor announced to the woman that she could hold her baby. She smiled as the little bundle of joy was placed in her arms. Even Kenshin, amidst the sadness, was able to smile at his small girl.

The wife lightly stroked the baby's cheek and touched its tiny hands. _If only I could stay longer, dear. I want to protect you from all harm, _she thought. The baby yawned and opened her eyes just a little. The woman gasped. Her daughter had beautiful lavender eyes that resembled Kenshin's own. She smiled. She always did love her husband's magnificently entrancing eyes. _This girl .. my daughter will be a heartbreaker when she grows up_, she thought. The wife gave a broader smile at the thought. _Kenshin will have a hard time keeping the boys away from her. _

Seconds passed and the woman continued to watch her baby daughter. _A name . .she needs a name_, she thought.

"Kaoru," the long-haired woman said.

Kenshin looked up at his wife with a shocked expression dancing on his face. His lavender eyes widened. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"That's our daughter's name, Kaoru."

He looked at the baby and then looked out the window. Stars had begun to fill the night sky. He clenched his fists unconsciously.

"I'm sorry m'aam, but the baby has to be cleaned and fed right now," the nurse said. Kenshin quickly turned around. He was startled by another person's presence.

The wife understood and nodded her head. She looked at her baby one last time and gave her a small kiss on the forehead. "I love you, my precious Kaoru," she said. A tear fell from her eyes. The nurse looked upon the couple sadly as she took the baby away.

The woman watched as she saw the nurse's figure go out the door. She mentally sighed and looked back at her husband. His bangs covered his eyes. He was afraid. 

Afraid to lose her.

"Kenshin . ." she said.

The man looked up with tear-filled eyes. The woman that he loved before him had started to already turn a pale shade of color. Panic began to overtake his feelings. He couldn't lose her. They had only been married for a year! 

"I can feel it . . I don't have much time . .  .," she started.

"No!!! Don't say anymore! Don't . . Just don't say it,"he screamed. "Please . . please."His body had starting to convulse with sadness and anger.

The ebony-haired woman looked upon him with sadness. "Kenshin . . please . . let me go."

The husband made a grief-stricken cry. 

"Kenshin . . please look at me," she said as she used the last of her strength to reach her husband's cheek. The man looked up at her and pools of sadness were mirrored in his eyes. "I love you. Please . .smile for me one last . . time . ."

The man only cried harder when hearing such words. 

"Please. . Kenshin . ." she looked upon him with pleading tear-filled eyes.

His body was shaking, but he wanted to comply with his wife's last wish. He looked at her and curved his lips into a shaky smile. The woman he loved smiled back at him.

Her hand dropped from its place on his cheek.

Kenshin's eyes widened. He looked from his wife's hand to her face and found that her eyes were peacefully closed. Terror grabbed at him as he began to shake her body. 

"Say something! Please say something! Open your eyes!!" he yelled. His face was twisted between madness, grief, anger, and shock. There was a big difference between knowing that someone was going to die and someone who died. Her pale, limp body did not respond to any of his actions. Kenshin cried out in pain and in grief.

"Don't leave me alone!"

"Don't leave me alone!"

"TOMOE!!!!"

-

-

-

-

- To be continued.

**Author's Notes**:

Hehe .. Please read and review! This story is going to be pretty long. I thought the movie was great and could depict the relationship between Kaoru/Kenshin/Tomoe pretty well. I hope you enjoyed the first chapter! Happy New Years!

Lol .. I know I'm working on "A Memory Forgotten" but this fic was itching to get written! =D


	2. Letters from the Heart

**Disclaimer**: RK is not mine and "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" is not my property either. Go Sharukh Khan and Kajol! lol .. I'm not Indian btw. Lol .. I just like Bollywood films.

**Characters are a bit OOC.**

**~ When Something Changes ~**

**Chapter 2:**

**Letters from the Heart**

**____________________  
  
**

8 Years Later

11:50 PM, 10 Minutes before Kaoru's 8th Birthday

"Kaoru-chan! Shouldn't you be sleeping by now?"

The almost eight-year-old girl laughed. Her raven-black hair was put in a ponytail  that bobbed up and down as she came down the stairs while her lavender eyes sparkled with joy.  "Megumi! You know why I can't sleep!" she said. Takani Megumi looked at her with gentle brown eyes. She nodded. Her mother, Tomoe, had written letters for her daughter before she had died. She had written a total of seven letters. One letter was to be opened and read on Kaoru's birthday. 

_HAHAHA_

Megumi looked up and saw that it was Kenshin and Sanosuke coming back into the room. She let out a gentle smile at the sight.

"How's my little Kaoru doing?!" Sanosuke called out. 

"Hi Uncle Sano!" the little girl replied in excitement. She quickly ran over and gave him a hug. Sanosuke laughed as he returned the embrace.

"Where's my hug?" Kenshin asked with a sad face as he crossed his arms. 

"Mou! 'Tousan!" Kaoru ran up and tackled him in the biggest bear hug she could manage. Her father laughed. Megumi and Sanosuke watched the scene with gentle eyes. The spiky-haired man looked over at the woman next to him and put his arm around her.

Megumi narrowed her eyes. "What do you want, baka roosterhead?"

"I was wondering when me and you wanted to have some kids . . ." Sanosuke said with a wide grin forming on his face. Megumi pursed her lips as she narrowed her eyes. Both Megumi and Sano had been married for about a year. No one would have guessed that all their constant fighting in college would have led them to fall in love with one another.

"I told you. I don't have time to take off to have kids right now. There is a shortage of doctors in Tokyo General," she replied.

Sanosuke's smile faltered, but he understood how busy his wife was. He knew that she would have a busy lifestyle ever since he set eyes on her, but that did not stop him from loving her. He nodded. "I see . . I see. We still have a long time to go," he replied as he looked over at her with his cinnamon eyes. His smile came back as he gave her a quick peck on the cheek.

Megumi blushed as she felt his lips on her cheek. Even after so many years of knowing him and being with him, she still had butterflies in her stomach whenever he would kiss her or touch her intimately. Her lips curved into a small smile.

"Aunt Megumi is blushing!" the little girl pointed with glee.

The woman looked up and saw that both Kaoru and Kenshin had been looking at them. Her face became even redder.

"It seems that I have that kind of effect on women," Sano said proudly as he gave a toothy smile and winked his eyes. His wife looked over and hit him on the head. A bustling of laughter between father and daughter was heard.

"Ouch! That hurt!" he complained as he rubbed the back of his head.

"It's supposed to," Megumi replied haughtily with a flip of her hair.

_BONG, BONG, BONG_

The clock struck twelve and Kaoru's face lit up with glee. She made her way between Megumi and Sano as she reached the living room. Boxes of presents were piled high up to the ceiling. Without even looking at them, she pushed them out of her way to find

A single envelope.

_To My Precious Kaoru_

Tears began to fill up in her eyes.

_'Kaasan_, she cried.

With ever most care she opened the envelope. Inside was a long letter addressed to her. She began reading. 

_Dear Kaoru-chan,_

_                Happy 8th Birthday! I bet you have grown up into a beautiful young woman by now. I wonder if your dad is having trouble pushing the guys away. ^_^  _

Kaoru crinkled her violet eyes into a smile as she read this and brushed her stray hair behind her ears.

_Now that you have gotten older Kaoru-chan. I have a story to tell you. A story about three people. A story about your father, me, and a girl named Kaoru._

The little girl gasped. _Kaoru? Who was Kaoru?_

_It all started when . . ._

-----------------------

_Flashback_

_Beginning of the _4th_ Year of College_

"Kenshin no baka!" a young woman screamed as she threw a heavy book towards another young man. 

"Ororororo!" the man mumbled as the book hit its target in the back of his head. His eyes became swirly as he turned around to face his friend.

"K-  -Kaoru-dono?," Kenshin said as he rubbed the back of his head.

Kaoru narrowed her blue eyes. "I told you . . saying -dono nowadays is weird. Why can't you just call me Kaoru?"

Kenshin crinkled his eyes into a pleasant smile. "It suits you, that it does Kaoru-dono."

"Mou! You always begin to talk weird when I'm around you," she said. Kenshin smiled to himself as he bent down and picked the book from off the ground and gave it back to Kaoru.__

"Kenshin . . you accidentally gave me your textbook last night so I couldn't do my Economics homework," she said.

"Oro? I'm sorry, that I am," the red-haired man replied as he gave a sheepish smile.

Kaoru sighed. She couldn't stay angry with him when he acted like that. The raven-haired girl looked over at her friend with a smile on her face. They had known each other ever since fifth grade. Back then, Kenshin had transferred from an elementary school in Kyoto over to the schools in Tokyo. The girl chuckled at the memory of how they had first met.

A few bullies from the neighboring middle school had started to pick on Kenshin because of his red hair and purple eyes. Kaoru saw them bully him one day after school and had stood up to them. After pushing one of the middle schoolers on to the ground, the others began to become more hostile and belligerent. The three of them had crowded around her and were about to hurt her when Kenshin stopped them. Kaoru smiled wistfully at the distant memory.

"Kaoru! Himura!" a voice called out. Kaoru broke out of her thoughts as she turned around.

It was one of their good friends, Makimachi Misao, who was running towards them and waving her hand frantically. "Misao! What's going?" Kaoru asked as Misao got closer. Her friend had become out of breath from running.

She stopped when she got there to take a breath. "Guess what! Guess what!"

Both Kaoru and Kaoru looked at her with a confused expression. "What?" Kaoru asked.

"I'm partners with Aoshi on this project for the telecommunications project!" she announced with glee. "And . . and I get to go over to his apartment this weekend to work on it!"

Kenshin and Kaoru sweatdropped.

"Ano . . . Misao . . . was that all you wanted to tell us?" Kenshin asked.

"Yeah," she laughed. "See you later in class!" With those last words, she took off. The young raven-haired woman and the crimson-haired man looked at one another as they lost sight of the woman and laughed. 

"I'll see you later, Kenshin. Where did you want to have lunch?" she asked.

"How about the Akabeko?" Kenshin suggested.

"Alright, see you then!" she waved good-bye as she made her way to class.

Kenshin took one last look checking to see that she would make it to class safely before leaving himself.

- -  - -  - - -  - - - -  - - - - -  - - - -  - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - -

_In Ecology Class_

" . . . and you'll have a test this coming Friday," Professor Genzai ended.

Sighs of disappointment were heard from the entire class. Kaoru looked down at her books as she drudgingly got up from her seat. _Another test? Mou! We just took one! As she started to go out the door she heard the teacher call her name._

"Yes, Professor Genzai?" Kaoru asked as she walked back to his desk.

The old man looked at her and smiled. "Ano .. Kamiya-san, my good friend's daughter is going to start attending this school starting tomorrow, her name is Yukishiro Tomoe. I was wondering if you would be good enough to escort her around and be a friend to her?"

Kaoru smiled. "Of course!"

"Aa .. thank you Kamiya-san. Good luck studying for the test. See you next time," he said as he waved good-bye.

- - -  - - - -  - - - - -  - - - - - - - -  - - - 

_The next day_

"Who's the new girl?" a male whispered amongst the crowd. People shook their heads in question as they continued to stare at the girl who was making her way through campus.

"She's cute!" another male voice added.

 "Mou! Why don't these guys move out of the way," Kaoru complained as she pushed and shoved her way through. Class was going to start in another five minutes. When she and Kenshin finally got out of the crowd, Kaoru looked up and saw her.

She had ebony black hair that was to her waist. Her eyes were a brilliant brown shade and her skin was ivory colored. But what made this girl stand out was the sheer aura of elegance that she cast around her and in every move she made. 

She looked down at her watch and gasped. It was getting late! "Kenshin, class is about to start. Hurry up!" Her companion didn't respond. Kaoru looked over at him.

His lavender eyes were glued onto the new girl's image.

And Kaoru couldn't help but feel .. 

Just a little. .. 

Jealous.

_-_

_-_

_-_

_-_

_-_

_-_

_- _To be continued.

**Author's Notes:**

Please read and review! Thanks much! Anyway, I hope you all had a great new years! Here are some clarifications for any confusing parts in this chapter:

1.) These letters that Tomoe has written to her daughter, Kaoru, is a way for the mother to talk to her daughter about herself. Through these letters, Kaoru has begun to understand her mother's personality and character. Although Tomoe is Kenshin's wife, only her daughter Kaoru can read them. So Kenshin himself does not know what's written within them.

2.) Yes, Megumi and Sano are married in this story. ^_^ Hehehe. 

3.) Also one last note, the past will be written from third person pov not just Tomoe's pov. ^_^ keke .. just wanted to clear that up.

4.) There are two main characters with the name Kaoru in this story.

a.) Kamiya Kaoru – Kenshin's best friend 

b.) Himura Kaoru – Kenshin's daughter

5.) Also another thing .. lol .. Kenshin does not use his normal "de gozaru yo" or anything. He only does that when he speaks to Kaoru sometimes. And unlike the anime, Kenshin will only address Kaoru with a dono.

Expect other characters to show up in the next chapter!

_Reader Responses_:

--------------

**ewunia** – Thanks for reviewing!

**Lil miss battousai** – Aww. . thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you like the plot so far.

**Rekka's Angel** – Hehe .. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

**Wistful Eyes** – Thanks for reviewing! ^_^ *blushes .. 

**MasterMcCloud428** - =) Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter also.

Also. . If you want . .I have another fic called "A Memory Forgotten" that is up. If you want, you can read that one also. ^_^ hehehe. 


	3. Trials of Friendship

**Disclaimer**: Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" is the property of Yash Raj Films.

**Author's Note**: Yes, Kamiya Kaoru will be a part of this fic after the flashback. Expect Kenshin and Kaoru to meet up again later (in the present). Hehehe .. 

On another note about the fic in general. Yes, there are a lot of fics that are similar in nature to this one. Love triangles have always been popular and the best friend realizing that he/she is in love with the friend is also popular. Hehe. But anyway, as I said before, I'm lightly basing this fic off of a Bollywood movie called "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" which is based on a love triangle between a guy, his best friend, and the new girl. It's not similar to other love triangles where the guy ends up with whatever girl and you'll see why later on. 

^_^

But I loved the movie .. and I'm sure you'll like the basic story for this fic ^_^ Of course it's not exactly the same as the movie .. but the main plot is pretty much the same. 

**Information about the Fic**:

_Ages of Characters:_

Kamiya Kaoru – 21

Himura Kenshin – 22 (Lol . . yes, Kenshin is only 1 year older than Kaoru. .hehe)

Yukishiro Tomoe – 22

Sagara Sanosuke – 22

Shinomori Aoshi – 22

Makimachi Misao - 20

_Any Differences in Physical Looks Compared to the Anime:_

Kamiya Kaoru – during college she had short hair (*gasp! Lol)

Himura Kenshin – he still has his long hair and the cross scar in college. (kenshin wouldn't be kenshin without it ^_^) but when he is older, he cuts his hair short. 

**~ WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES ~**

**Chapter 3**

**Meetings**

_Continuing Flashback, 4th Year of College_

Kamiya Kaoru sat back in class as she remembered the look on Kenshin's face that time. _So what? He's a guy . . and the new girl is pretty.  Why should I care who he looks at?_, she asked herself. She bit her lower lip. After consciously reconfirming the fact that she didn't care whom Kenshin liked, Kaoru felt a bit better. The uneasiness in the pit of her stomach went away.

When class ended, Kaoru noticed the new girl of the school waiting in the front of the class. Professor Genzai motioned for Kaoru to come over. The raven-haired girl did so. Her heart started to beat faster as she approached the other girl. For some reason, Kaoru felt nervous about meeting her. 

"Good morning, Kamiya-san," Dr. Genzai said with a pleasant smile.

Kaoru bowed her head as she said her greetings.

Then Professor Genzai put a hand over the new girl's shoulder. "This is Yukishiro Tomoe." Tomoe nodded her head slightly and smiled. Kaoru looked up and felt entranced. She was even more beautiful up close when she smiled. The girl felt her heart clench a little in pain. _How can I measure up?, she thought. __But . .but why do I care?_

She regained her composure as she introduced herself. "Welcome to Tokyo University, Tomoe-san! My name is Kamiya Kaoru." Kaoru said with the brightest smile she could manage at the time.

"Arigato Kamiya-san," Tomoe said.

Kaoru laughed. "Just call me Kaoru. By the way, what's your next class? I can show you where it is on campus."

Tomoe smiled as she took out her schedule on the piece of paper. 

_Her writing is perfect also!_, Kaoru sighed. Her eyes widened as she read the next class on her list. "Oh, we have two of the same classes together!" She looked over at Tomoe and beamed. She quickly grabbed her and took off. The other girl's eyes widened as she did so and waved good-bye at the teacher.

"Bye Professor Genzai!" Kaoru said as she looked back.

The both of them made their way quickly through campus to get to the next class. When they got there, they saw a sign on the door.

ECON436 Cancelled 

"Yes!" Kaoru shouted out in joy. Tomoe looked over at her with an amused expression. The blue-eyed girl smiled and said, "Well, since we have an hour to kill, why don't you tell me about yourself?"

Tomoe nodded her head meekly as the both of them went outside and sat down in one of the grassy areas on campus.

Kaoru gave her a winning smile as she asked, "Where are you from?"

Tomoe smiled as she responded, "Kyoto University. Since my father recently expanded his business to Tokyo, he thought that I should transfer here."

"Aaa . .I see."

The two of them continued on like that for another forty minutes. By the end, the both of them had gotten to know each other a lot better and seemed to like one another. Kaoru admired the woman before her for her elegance, beauty, intelligence, and kindness while Tomoe admired the other for her vivacity, strength, compassion, and friendliness.

"Kaoru-dono!" someone called out.

Both Kaoru and Tomoe turned around to see a young red-haired man making his way through the crowds towards them. He was out of breath when he finally reached them.

"Oh, Kenshin! My Economics class was cancelled today. It's such a relief. I don't think I could have sat through another one of Jineh's lectures," Kaoru said exasperatingly.

Kenshin smiled and then looked over at Kaoru's companion. His eyes widened as he recognized that it was the girl that he saw the day before. He blushed when he realized that he had been looking at her for such a long time. He gave an uncomfortable laugh. "Where are your manners? When are you going to introduce me?" he playfully said to Kaoru while giving her a friendly nudge.

Kaoru made a face and stuck her tongue out at him. "I was just about to if you would have been just a little more patient." She sighed as she introduced the both of them. "Kenshin, this is Yukishiro Tomoe. She's a junior like us." 

Kenshin smiled. _Tomoe .. what a nice name_, he thought with a smile. "Nice to meet you, Tomoe-san." He stuck his hand out and gave her a firm shake of the hand.

"And Tomoe-san, this is my best friend Himura Kenshin. I have to warn you though, he's a bit of an idiot. Don't let him annoy you too much," she said nonchalantly with a wave of the hand.

Tomoe almost laughed at the face Kenshin made. 

"Maa, maa Kaoru-dono. Must you always introduce me in such a manner?" the young man sighed. 

Kaoru laughed jubilantly. "I'm just kidding. He's a great guy once you get to know him."

A bright smile appeared on Kenshin's face as Kaoru complimented him and his lavender eyes lit up. Tomoe noticed the surreal color of his eyes and she felt her breath catch in her throat. _His eyes .. they're absolutely beautiful, she thought._

As time passed by, the three of them noticed that it was time for their Greek Literature class. Kenshin was delighted to find that Tomoe was in both his Lit class and one of his Business classes.

- -  - - -  - - - -  -- - - - -  - - - - - -  - - -  - - -  - - - - - - - - - 

_In Greek Literature class_

Himura stifled another yawn as he lay back in his seat as far as possible. He really didn't want to come to this class. It wasn't a part of his major at all, but it was required as a part of their school's General Education program. He found himself stealing glances at the new girl, Tomoe. Her beauty .. it was entrancing to him.

"Himura!"

Kenshin quickly sat up. "H-hai," he answered. Kaoru, who sat in the seat next to him stifled a giggle. He looked so adorable when he looked confused like that.

"Tell me . . since we're on the subject of Venus and such. How in your opinion do two people fall in love?" the female professor asked.

He smiled. "Love grows from friendship. You can't have love without friendship," he said confidently. 

The teacher nodded, "Good answer. Now back to . ."

Kaoru drifted off to her thoughts. _Love and friendship?, she looked over at Kenshin and he gave her a friendly wink. She quickly looked back down at her paper and a slight blush started to appear on her cheeks. _Do I love Kenshin?_, she asked herself. She reminisced of all the times that she had been with him: middle school, high school, and now college. She never had need of a boyfriend because she had always had Kenshin. Now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure how she could continue to be so happy without him there. She fondly looked back up at him. He was jotting some notes down in his notebook. _I wonder . .I wonder if he feels the same way about me?__

- - -  - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

  
  


Kaoru spent the next few days in cloud nine. Her good friends and roommates, Makimachi Misao and Takani Megumi eyed her weirdly.

"Kaoru, what's going on?" Misao asked as she found Kaoru humming to herself and playing with her hair. 

"Nothing," she said in a sing-song voice.

Megumi narrowed her eyes as she marched herself next to her friend and put her fists on her hips. She gave a suspicious smile. "Did you find yourself a boyfriend or something?"

Kaoru gasped as she turned around. "O -  Of course not, Megumi! You know I'm not interested in anyone here."

"Except Ken-san."

Kaoru's face turned red. How .. how did she know? The taller woman chuckled at Kaoru's embarrassment. She had always guessed that Kaoru felt something more towards Kenshin than just friendship. 

Misao's mouth dropped open. She had known Kaoru since high school and had no inkling of an idea that Kaoru had feelings for Kenshin. She turned towards Megumi, "How'd you guess that?" she asked. "I've known Kaoru and Kenshin for a longer time than you have."

"Well, it's quite obvious from any third person's point of view. I'm surprised you didn't realize it yourself earlier, Kaoru."

Kaoru's face turned beet-red. Now that the both of them knew, would they tell Kenshin?

Megumi sighed. She knew what was going through this girl's head. "Don't worry tanuki. Your secret's safe with us."

"Yeah. We promise not to utter a word to Kenshin about it," Misao agreed.

Kaoru gave a sigh of relief. She looked back up at her friends and smiled. 

"Ohohoho. To think that our little tanuki is starting to grow up. I was afraid that since you dress like a guy and act like a guy, that you were going to fall for a girl. Ohoh . ."

Kaoru had gotten up and hit Megumi with a pillow before she could finish.

"Why .. . Ken-san's not going to fall in love with a tomboy like . ."

Another pillow in the face for Megumi. 

Her eyes narrowed as she took up "arms" and began fighting back. Misao joined in the brawl and pretty soon feathers and laughter had filled the entire room.

- - -  - - -  - -  - - - - -  - - -  - - -  - - - -  - - - - - -  - - -  -

A month had passed by and to Kaoru's disappointment, she found that she was spending less and less time with Kenshin. He had a test for his Business class coming up and he and Tomoe had been hard at work studying. She sighed. She really missed his company more than anything.

And also. . 

Also .. that day was coming up. She hoped that Kenshin would still remember.

- -  - - -  - -  - -  - -  - - - -  --  - - - - - -  - - - - - - -

_October 18_

Kaoru brushed back her short, raven-black hair as she studied herself in the mirror and sighed. She wondered if Kenshin remembered. _Of course he does, she said. __He wouldn't forget, right? She looked at the clock. It was almost five. She gave another sigh. __Kenshin's classes have all ended by now. I wonder where he's at?_

She picked up her cell phone and speed dialed his number.

RING, RING 

Kaoru sat in the chair and picked at her black shirt while she waited for him to answer the phone.

"Hello?" 

A bright smile broke out onto Kaoru's face as she heard his voice. "Hi Kenshin! I thought that we could go see that movie that we've been wanting to watch, 'The Last Samurai'".  

"A . .ano .. eto . ." She heard the hesitation in Kenshin's voice and it gave her a strange, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach. She already knew the answer.

"Ano . . I'm sorry Kaoru-dono. I made plans with Tomoe to go to the coffee shop and look over the notes that she missed from class."

"O . . oh," she said trying to hide her disappointment. 

Kenshin noticed the change in behavior and added, "How about we go tomorrow?"

"Umm . . okay. That sounds good," she said trying to sound excited about the prospect. 

"I'll see you tomorrow, that I will. Bye Kaoru-dono."

"Bye Kenshin."

CLICK 

Kaoru sat there looking at her phone. It really wasn't the movie that she wanted to see, she had just wanted to spend time with Kenshin again. She sighed as she looked at the calendar. October 18th. Today was the 8th anniversary since her mother had passed away. Tears began to stream down Kaoru's cheeks.

And Kenshin .. . 

He had forgotten for the first time.

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_The next day_

Kaoru waited at the front of the movie theatre for Kenshin to come. She was dressed in a pair of casual jeans and a light blue t-shirt. Her hands were clutched in front. For some reason, she felt a little nervous about spending time together with him. She blushed with anticipation as she watched people go pass her. Her blue eyes searched for a sign of crimson hair.

And there he was.

She smiled. He was dressed in a dark blue polo and slacks. His hair was tied up in a tight ponytail. Kaoru sucked in her breath. Ever since she knew him, he would always wear his hair in loose ponytail. He gave an air of danger with his hair tied up like that. That look . .it suited him also.

As he approached, she noticed another figure walking beside him.

It was Tomoe. She looked incredibly beautiful that day in her dress outfit. As she glanced from Kenshin to Tomoe and Tomoe to Kenshin, she noticed that they indeed looked like some couple. Her heart ached at the thought. She shrugged it off as they approached. _Tomoe couldn't be interested in someone like Kenshin, she reassured herself. _They're just friends . .right?__

Kenshin smiled at her as they came within range. A faint blush rose up her cheeks as she realized how handsome he looked face-to-face. 

"Hi Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said. He looked over at Tomoe. "I hope you don't mind that I brought Tomoe along. She was interested in seeing the movie, that she was and didn't have anything else planned for the day."

Kaoru managed to give a cheerful smile as she looked at her. "Hi Tomoe-san. I'm glad that you came."

Tomoe smiled as she nodded her thanks. 

"Kenshin . .why don't you buy the tickets while Tomoe and I go find seats," Kaoru said as she grabbed Tomoe's hand.

Kenshin nodded as he stood in line.

He watched the two with a smile donning his visage.

- -  - - - - - - - - -  - - -  - --  - - - -  - - -  - - - -  --  - -- - - - - -- - - - -

_During the movie_

The lead female actress was seen tending to Tom Cruise's wounds. Kaoru couldn't help but feel a little attached to that entire era. She wondered if it was because she had practiced kendo ever since she was a small girl. She looked over at Kenshin and smiled. _He would have made a great samurai, she thought. _

Throughout the entire movie, Kaoru found herself drawn in. She absolutely loved it. The fighting scenes. The scenery. Everything. Especially the unspoken love between the male and female leads. It was beautiful. 

She looked over at Kenshin. Instead of watching the movie, Kenshin had been stealing glances at Tomoe. Kaoru felt a pang in her heart.

It hurt. It hurt to see that the one that she loved was interested in someone else.

Her eyes began to water up as she tried to focus her attention back onto the screen.

It was the final scene.

Tears fell down her cheeks and she quickly brushed them away.

"Kaoru-dono," someone whispered. Kaoru looked over and lowered her head. She didn't want Kenshin to see that she was crying. 

"Kaoru-dono . . . " he continued as he gently lifted her chin with his fingers so that he could look at her. "I've never seen you tear up like this at a movie before. Are you okay?" he asked. Genuine concern for her laced over his every word. 

Kaoru gave him a small smile as she nodded her head. "I'm fine . . it's just . . just that . . I feel very attached to them for some reason," she said as she focused her eyes somewhere else. _At least that's half the truth._

Kenshin smiled. "I know what you mean. I feel like wearing a samurai uniform myself, that I do."

The girl chuckled at his choice of lame words as she punched him playfully on the arm. "Mou Kenshin . . . will you stop it with the "that I do's" and the "that I will's"! No one speaks like that."

Kenshin laughed. He would only talk like that to Kaoru knowing that it would get a rise out of her. It brightened his day to see his friend happy once again. The last thing that he wanted to see were her tears.

"Would you two keep it down?!" someone from behind them said angrily.

Kaoru and Kenshin looked at one another and covered their mouths with their hands as they stifled another laugh. The young man looked at her with a comfortable smile on his face. He truly had missed her company the past few weeks.

When the movie was finished, the three of them walked back to the parking lot. Because of the chill in the night air, Kenshin quickly ushered Tomoe into his car. Then he walked Kaoru back to her own car.

Before Kaoru got in, Kenshin stopped her and grabbed both of her hands.

She gasped as she looked up into his deep lavender orbs. 

"I really missed you these past couple of weeks and I have something important to tell you, Kaoru. Meet me in our regular place tomorrow afternoon at twelve. Promise me that you'll be there," he said in a sincere voice.

Kaoru smiled shyly and felt her cheeks become warm as she replied, "Hai, Kenshin. I promise."

And that night Kaoru couldn't sleep. For she was afraid that if she did, all that had happened today and all that Kenshin had said to her would have been nothing but a dream.

-

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- To be continued

**Author's Notes**:

Please read and review! Thanks much! I would really appreciate it! Some extra notes about this chapter:

1.) The scene in the classroom asking the question about love is significant. This is when Kaoru starts to question herself about her feelings for Kenshin and also wonders whether or not Kenshin returns those feelings. Kenshin's answer may seem kind of .. umm .. corny. Lol.. but it's directly from what the character in the movie said.

_Reader Responses_:

**Miss Behavin** – Hi! Thanks for reviewing!! Hehe ^_^ I love reading your reviews. They always make my day just that much better. Anyway, I hope you had a great holiday. I hope you update your fics soon. ^_^ I can't wait to read more Ask Hiko columns. Lol.

**OniTokage** – Hi hi! Thanks for reading this fic also. ^_^ I'll make sure to check out that fic you mentioned. How sad. .sniff sniff. . Kaoru dies? =( .. but anyway, thanks again for reviewing! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter also! ^_^

**KryAngel** – Thanks for the review! Hope you enjoy the rest!

**Darkends** – I'm glad you like the story so far! ^_^ Thanks for reading.

**Wistful-Eyes** – Hello! Yeah…it's very sad that Tomoe had died so early, but it's good that she had a child ^_^ 

**Lonelystar07** – Hi. Thanks for reviewing! Kamiya Kaoru will be in the present story also in the later chapters. ^_^ You'll just have to wait. ^_^ 

**SailorUniverse 1** **-  **Hi. Yes, I'm sure there are a lot of fics with this kind of love triangle concept. This particular fic is based off the movie "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" which is Hindi for "When Something Changes".. at least that's what it means roughly. I hope you enjoy the rest of this story!

**Fan4000** – Here's the next chapter! I hope you enjoy reading it!

**Serenity Blossom** – Aww. .^_^ thnx for the review! I really enjoy reading them. Anyway, I hope you find the rest of the chapters just as enjoyable and moving.

**Ryoga** – Hi! Thanks for reviewing my new story. Hope you like the rest.


	4. Confessions from the Heart

**Disclaimer:** Rurouni Kenshin and "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" are not my property. However, I'd like to think that Kenshin is mine. Hahahhaha. .

**Warning: **Characters are a bit OOC.

**~ WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES ~**

**Chapter 4**

**Confessions from the Heart**

**  
  
**

****_Continuing Flashback, 4thYear of College, Fall Semester_

Kaoru got up from out of bed with an excitement in the pitter-patter of her heart. Oh the time never seemed to go by so slow as it did now.  She looked at her clock. It was only 8:00 am she sighed. She looked around the room with an anticipation of what to wear that afternoon when she would meet Kenshin. She hastily got up and rummaged through her entire wardrobe.

"Mou! I really should have gotten a dress like Megumi had said," Kaoru humphed as she plopped herself back down on the bed. 

Sure Kaoru and Kenshin had spent many a time and day together alone, but . .but Kaoru could tell that today was going to be something different. She had seen it in his eyes last night.

_Could Kenshin love me? Maybe what he had said that other time in class was some sort of hint to me that he had those feelings_, she sighed dreamily.

That morning Kaoru had never looked more beautiful. 

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12:00 pm _at the Park_

Kaoru was dressed in a pair of khakis and a light blue blouse as she made her way to the top of the hill. It was the most feminine thing she had in her closet. During the walk she found herself constantly smoothing out her blouse even though there were no creases. Saying that she was nervous would have been an understatement. 

Kaoru looked up as she neared the hill and saw his profile standing next to the lone tree on top. His red hair was blowing freely in the wind and swayed with the movement of the long blades of grass. His eyes were focused on the sights below him. She smiled. Seeing his image was a comfort to her.

She felt her heart beat faster with every step that she took.

Every step that brought her closer to him.

Her palms started to feel sweaty.

She looked up and found that he was watching her. She was transfixed by his lavender orbs.

And her breath caught in her throat.

Kenshin cut the distance between them by walking up to her. The whole time he had kept his unwavering eyes on her. He smiled and gently took hold of both of her hands.

Kaoru sighed at the gentle caress and looked into his eyes.

"I love you," Kenshin said.

Her sapphire blue orbs widened. Time seemed to stop at that mere second. It seemed as though the wind had stopped blowing. The people had stopped moving. And her heart had stopped beating.

Just so that she could hear those words.

And then . .

And then . .

His laughter shattered the entire atmosphere.

She took a step back. And another. And another. Her hands had started shaking. _What's going on_?, she screamed inside of her head.

"I'm . . I'm so . .HAHA . .I'm so sorry Kaoru-dono!! HAHA," he paused to take a breath and take control of his laughter.

Kaoru stood there glued to the earth. _What was he saying sorry for?_, she wondered. With her hand still shaking, she slowly went to hold on to Kenshin's arm. She needed something to steady herself.

"Kenshin," she started in a strained voice, "what . .what. do you mean? What are you saying sorry for?"

Kenshin looked at her and said in a more calm and serious tone than before, "Kaoru-dono . . how was it? I really didn't mean to try it out on you like that, but I didn't think you would actually fall for it."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "What do you mean? Try . .try what out on me?" she asked in a hurried voice.

"Kaoru-dono. . .so much has happened in these past couple of weeks. You know Tomoe right?"

Kaoru nodded her head as the name registered in her memory.

Kenshin grinned and his purple eyes lit up in excitement. "Well .. well .. I love her. I want to confess to her today what my feelings are. You see . . I've gotten to know her so well during our study sessions and in class. She's really such a beautiful person and . ."

Kaoru mechanically nodded her head and pasted a smile onto her face as she watched Kenshin continue to animatedly talk about Tomoe. Even though she was going through all the physical actions, inside . .inside Kaoru was dead. Her heart and mind had stopped after hearing that Kenshin . .that her best friend . . that her first love was in love with another.

" . . I've wanted for so long to tell you this Kaoru-dono. But . .but I never got the chance to. It feels great just to tell this to someone. Oh Kaoru-dono, you won't believe how wonderful it feels to love someone!" Kenshin said exclamatorily.

Kaoru couldn't help but smirk at what he had said. _Isn't it ironic .. that the person I love is you?_

"So .. do you think Tomoe would say 'yes'? I'm afraid that . ."

Kaoru placed two fingers upon Kenshin's lips. Her blue eyes had cleared up as she looked into his own. "If I were Tomoe, I'd say 'I love you.'"

Kenshin's smile grew as he heard this and pulled Kaoru into a fierce hug. "You're the best friend I could ever have. Thank you, Kaoru-dono. I'll go tell her now," he said in excitement as he quickly ran off.

Kaoru watched as his figure disappeared from the park.

A crack of thunder was heard in the distance.__

At that moment, all the strength she had kept up had left her in one whoosh. She fell down onto the soft grass and whatever was left of her heart and her love had shattered into a million broken pieces. 

And the rain fell.

- - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - -- - - - 

_A few hours later at Kaoru's Apartment_

"M-my . .first love was not returned. M-Megumi .. M-Misao ..my heart .. it hurts .. " Kaoru cried as she desperately clung onto her bed post. Tears fell constantly from her blue eyes.

Her best friends, Misao and Megumi watched with much heartache. They had tried to comfort her as much as possible but to no avail. How would you heal a broken heart? 

Misao couldn't stand it anymore. She marched out of Kaoru's room and into her own. Megumi watched with a weary eye.

"Th .. that bastard! I swear . .I swear . ." Misao threatened as she went to her desk to take out a couple of kunais. "I .. I don't care if he . . if he  .. Gawd! I'll show him . . " She started to walk out the door when Megumi grabbed her by her shirt collar.

"Please Misao .. Kaoru wouldn't want you to do this. Kenshin didn't know how Kaoru felt about him. Telling him now that Kaoru loves him would only complicate things more and make it harder for Kaoru. Do you think . ." Megumi stopped as she felt anger rolling off her like waves. She too wanted to go up to Kenshin and give him a good punch in the face, but she knew that in the end it wouldn't benefit anybody. "Do you think that by telling Kenshin now that Kaoru loves him . .that Kenshin would run over to Kaoru and forget about Tomoe entirely? Do you think that Kenshin loves Kaoru in return?"

Misao looked down as she clenched the kunais in her fist tightly. Some tears started to fall from her turquoise green eyes. "I . .I can't see Kaoru so broken like this. It. . It hurts me so much." After saying those words, Misao broke down completely and cried for both her and Kaoru.

Megumi took the girl into her arms like a sister would another sister. "I know. It hurts me, too. But to help Kaoru, we need to help her get over this.

We need to help her get over _him_."

Misao looked up and understood. Life wasn't a fairy tale. First loves don't always end up being returned. But why . .why did it have to be Kaoru?

And at that point somewhere in Tokyo, a crimson haired man had had his first love returned to him.

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- To be continued

**Author's Notes:**

Please read and review! Thanks much! I know this was a pretty angst-ridden chapter. Poor Kaoru. Sigh . .it was so sad seeing this scene play out on the big screen. =*( .. sniff sniff .. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. After the next chapter, I won't be able to update as often since I'm going back to school. ^_^

_Reader Responses:_

**Nina**  - Hello. Thanks for reviewing.  Well .. lol .. when you put it like that .. I guess there are no surprises at all. Anyway, what makes a fic different is not the overall, but the details. ^_^ 


	5. Healing

**Disclaimer: **Rurouni Kenshin does not belong to me. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai does not belong to me either. =*( (sigh .. a part of life)

**Special Thanks to lonelystar-07 for adding me to your Favorite Authors' List! **Thanks so much ^_^ sniff sniff. =)

**Author's Notes: **Hello! If you have time, I would like you guys to check out this music site: www-scf.usc.edu/~pradhakr and sign his guestbook! He would really appreciate it! ^_^

**Warning: Chatacters are a bit OOC.**

**~ WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES ~**

**Chapter 5**

**Healing**

_1 Week Later_

"Kaoru . . please . . get up and eat something. You haven't eaten anything properly for the past week," Megumi chided as she sat down next to Kaoru on the bed. Kaoru nodded as she got up listlessly and walked towards the kitchen. Misao was already there preparing a turkey and cheese sandwich for the three of them. She gave Kaoru a bright and cheerful smile.

"I'm making your favorite," the younger girl said.

Kaoru looked up and made an attempt to smile, but it only came out lopsided. Misao frowned. "Cheer up, Kaoru. Please. Sano and Aoshi are coming over today."

Kaoru's eyes widened. "Wh-what? But . ."

Misao winked, "Come on . . you've been in this apartment so long and haven't gone out. Everyone's worried. They think you're sick."

The blue-eyed girl looked down at her feet. It's true that she had stayed in her room for most of the week. She was afraid of seeing any of her other friends, but she was most afraid of seeing Kenshin and Tomoe together. She knew that it was selfish of her, but didn't someone tell her once that love was selfish?

Misao furrowed her brows as she sliced the sandwich in half. Her voice dropped into a more serious tone. "Kaoru . . I know. I know that this is difficult. But we're your friends and we want to see you happy. You can't be happy if you lock yourself in here."

Kaoru nodded and gave a more believable smile this time. She was going to be strong . .she was going to be happy for Kenshin . . _ but can I do it?_, she added in her thoughts.

_*RING RING_

"I got it!" Megumi called out from the next room as she hurried to pick up the phone. It could be him. She was a little excited, god forbid, about seeing Sanosuke again. She didn't know when it had started, but her feelings for him have been growing deeper and deeper. At first she wouldn't believe that she would love someone like that and at times even now, she still couldn't believe it. _Hmph__, how can someone so classy as me fall for a ragamuffin like the roosterhead?_, she thought with a loving shake of the head.

"Hello. Takani Megumi speaking."

"Ano . . hello."

"K-Ken-san," she stuttered lowering her voice into a whisper. She didn't want Kaoru to hear that Kenshin was on the other line. He had been calling on and off for the past week because Kaoru had not been going to class. He was very worried about her.

"Can I speak to Kaoru-dono?"

"A . . she's still not feeling well enough to talk on the phone."

"I see. Is it alright if I come over to see her?" he asked with worry tinged in his voice.

"No. I'm sorry, she just doesn't want any visitors right now," Megumi said reluctantly. She felt bad about lying to Kenshin about Kaoru's condition. But she knew that Kaoru wouldn't be able to see Kenshin right now, not so soon. 

"Aaa . . I see. Then should I come by and drop off the notes from class?"

"Ano . . I'll just meet you on campus and get them from you," she paused and then added, "It'll save you the trip."

"Oh," he sighed. "Thank you, Megumi-san."

"Bye," Megumi said as she hung up the phone.

"Bye . . ." Kenshin said. His lavender eyes looked at the phone with worry. Why did it seem like Megumi and Misao didn't want him to see Kaoru? What was wrong with her? Every time he had called, it was the same excuse from her two roommates. He gave another sigh as he looked at the ceiling of his studio apartment.

"Kenshin?" Tomoe called from the kitchen.

The red-haired man turned and looked over at Tomoe with a smile donning his face. She was wearing an apron over her plain dress with a spatula in her right hand. He had thought about it for a long while and decided that he wanted to be like this with Tomoe for the rest of his life.

"Lunch is ready," she said.

Kenshin's smile grew as he pushed himself up from the couch.

"Ano . . how is Kaoru-san?" Tomoe asked with worry lacing over her serene voice. 

The young man looked up with a sorry shake of the head. "She's still not feeling well and she doesn't want any visitors." His voice had grown hurtful at the thought that Kaoru would not even want to see him, her best friend.

"Oh . . I see," Tomoe replied with sympathy. An awkward feeling grew at the pit of her stomach. 

_I wonder . . I wonder what's wrong with Kaoru-san?_

_Is it .. could it .. could it be about Kenshin and me?_

- - - - - - -- - -- - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - -

_Back at Kaoru, Megumi, and Misao's Apartment_

Kaoru had retired herself back into the room after lunch. Megumi and Misao nodded sadly towards one another. The girl had only taken a few bites of the sandwich and the way she ate was so mechanical. "How do we cheer her up?" Misao wondered aloud.

Megumi sighed. "It's all up to her." She got up and announced that she would go check the mail. Misao nodded as she too got up to clear the dishes. 

As Megumi was coming back from the mailbox, she flipped through the mail in her hands. _People Magazine, TIMES, Scientific American . ._Megumi stopped and glanced at the articles in it. _Is there such a thing as Race?_ She then flipped through the other mail. _Bills, bills, bills, a letter for Misao-chan from Okina, and . ._she stopped. _A letter to Kaoru from her Dad._Megumi smiled. _A letter from Kamiya-san might cheer up Kaoru. _

Before Kaoru was able to start high school, her mother had died from a severe illness and her dad decided that he would move to Kyoto. Since Kaoru had many dear friends in Tokyo, Kaoru's dad had decided that she would continue to attend schooling in Tokyo and live with her mother's father (Kaoru's grandfather), Dr. Genzai. Kamiya-san did not write often to his daughter, but when he did, it would always light up the girl's day. Megumi nodded to herself. This would definitely make Kaoru happier.

She opened up the door and walked back into the apartment. Misao had already finished cleaning the dishes and was now preoccupied with listening to the music in her room. She could hear the stereo all the way from the living room. She sighed as she made her way towards Kaoru's room.

"Kaoru, you have a letter from your dad," Megumi called out as she knocked on the door.

The raven-haired girl had been staring at the ceiling for the past couple of minutes. She was in her own world. _Kenshin__ .__ . if only . . why did I have to fall for my best friend?_, she cried in her heart. Tears fell from her eyes. _And why . .why does it hurt so much? What should I do? I can't tell Kenshin. He's in love with Tomoe-san. _She sniffled as she turned herself face-down on the pillow. Tears were continuously streaming down her face. She hated that she was being so weak. She didn't want to worry her friends so much. 

"Kaoru!" Megumi banged on the door.

Kaoru heard her this time and instantly got out of bed, quickly wiping any signs of tears with the sleeve of her shirt. 

"I'm coming," she called back as she checked herself in the mirror making sure that she looked okay. She then unlocked the door and opened it.

"You silly tanuki girl. What were you doing?" Megumi scolded lightly.

"Ano . . I was . ." Kaoru started to explain as she shifted her eyes around the room. She wasn't good at lying.

Megumi shook her head and handed her the letter. "It's from your dad."

Kaoru looked down and recognized the familiar handwriting. A small smile began to grace her features. She took the letter gratefully and quickly went to her desk to read it.

"Megumi, did I get anything?" Misao asked as she bounced towards Kaoru's door where the older woman was standing. 

Megumi sifted through the letters and gave Misao the letter from Okina. Misao smiled brightly and then peered into Kaoru's room.

"Kaoru, Sano and Aoshi said that they would be here around sev .." she stopped herself . 

Kaoru was face-down on her desk violently shaking with silent cries.

"Kaoru . ."Megumi said as she too saw Kaoru's figure. They hurried over to her side and hugged her. "What's wrong? What did your father say?"

Only muffled sobbing was heard.

Misao looked over at the letter and picked it up. Some of the words were smudged by the wetness of her tears. She knew everything when she saw the words, 

_"The doctors say I need to have an operation . ."_

She looked down at Kaoru and felt overwhelming compassion for her. How could so many things happen to her? Megumi was feeling the same emotions at that time for their friend. But she was helpless in thinking what she could do to help her.

At that moment, Kaoru stopped crying and looked up. Her short black hair was disheveled and her eyes were bloodshot. But inside them they found a determination that was clear as crystal.

"Megumi , Misao . . I've decided that I'm going home."

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- To be continued

**Author's Notes **

Please read and review! Thank you very much! I'm sorry it took so long in updating. I was having trouble deciding what to do after that last scene. Anyway, I've written out most of the next chapter so I should have that up by the end of this week (or maybe even sooner.) 

1.) Kaoru's mom died when Kaoru was in 8th grade. (I'm not sure how the grade schooling goes in Japan . .sorry!) Because Tokyo left Kaoru's dad with many memories, he decided that he wanted to move to Kyoto. Kaoru stays with Dr. Genzai up until college. She does visit her dad in Kyoto every so often during winter and summer vacations. Her dad is a teacher of kendo. 

_Reader Responses:_

**Ryoga** – Thanks for the kind reviews!

**Koishii**** Sweet** – I hope you enjoyed the chapters so far. ^_^ It'll get more interesting later on.

**Saotome** – Thanks for reviewing!

**Oyuki** – Yes, that's really sad for Kaoru. =( Poor girl to have her heart broken like that.

**Kry**** Angel**- Thanks for reviewing!

**Fan4000** – Yeah, it was sad about what had happened to Kaoru. Hmm .. but you're right in that Kenshin really didn't do any wrong because he didn't know that she loved him. Sigh .. I guess we'll have to see what happens next. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Wistful-Eyes** – Yeah, that was a bit OOC of Kenshin, but it was important for the story for this to happen. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

**Koishii**** Sweet** – I'm glad you liked the story so far. Thanks for reviewing!

**SerenityBlossom** – Aww.. yeah, I understand how it feels to be rejected too. Sniff sniff. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

**Cherryblossom91** – Thanks for reviewing! I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

**MissBehavin** – Thanks for reviewing! Your reviews always make me smile. ^_^ especially since it comes from such a great author as yourself. ^_^

**OniTokage** – Hi! You're right on the dot. Yes, Kaoru will definitely meet Kenshin again in the present story. Haha. It's kinda funny. So far the two stories on FF.net center on Kenshin meeting Kaoru again. I guess I'm a sucker for those kind of plots.

**Are-en1** – So you've watched the movie before? Cool ^_^ I hope you enjoy the story. Although it will be a bit different.

**Mcdulldullpiggy** – Thanks for reviewing! Hope you enjoy the rest of the story.


	6. Farewell

**Disclaimer: **Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is property of Yash Raj Films.

**Special Thanks to Starz4122 for adding me to your Favorite Author's List! **Thanks so much!!!! ^_^ 

**Author's Notes: **If you haven't done so already, check out this site: . Thanks! Sign his guestbook and check out his CD! He would really appreciate it! Thanks much!

**Warning: Characters are a bit OOC.**

**~ WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES ~**

**Chapter 6**

**Farewell**

_Around 6:30 pm at Kaoru, Misao, and Megumi's Apartment_

Kaoru's room was a mess. 

Clothes, books, CDs, and other miscellaneous items were thrown into and around her brown suitcase.

Two figures stood amongst the chaotic destruction with faces aghast.

"I can't believe it, have you gone crazy?" Megumi said with an incomprehensible expression on her face. She looked over at Misao who was also wide-eyed. "She's gone crazy hasn't she? The tanuki girl has finally gone crazy."

Misao didn't respond.

Megumi looked back up at Kaoru and walked towards her. "Kaoru," she called. Kaoru didn't pay attention and continued to fold her clothes. "Kaoru!" Megumi called again this time with her hands around her waist. Her patience could only take so much of this madness. 

"KAORU!"

The blue-eyed girl finally looked up. Her eyes had a questioning look wondering why Megumi looked so flustered. 

"Don't play those games with us. What are you doing now? Packing to go home?!" Megumi asked with an arrogant flip of her hair. She pointed her index finger towards Kaoru. "You only have less than a year left of school. Even your father wouldn't want you to lose out on your college education just to go see him!"

Kaoru looked down at the shirt that she was currently folding and stopped. "Megumi . . I think it's for the best. My father's operation. . it's quite serious even though he might make light of it in the letter," she said in a voice lower than a whisper. "I know how he is," her fingers began to clutch her shirt more tightly at the thought that her father was sick. A tear fell from her eyes. She brushed it away quickly. _Don't cry, Kaoru_, she told herself. 

"Oh Kaoru . ." Megumi started. She wanted to apologize.

Misao watched the scene unmoving as tears began to well up in her jade eyes. It wasn't a dream. Kaoru really was leaving them. She wiped some tears from her eyes with the back of her hand and sniffled. 

"Kaoru!" Misao cried out as she ran from her position and put her arms around the girl sitting on the bed. Uncontrollable tears began to flow from her eyes. Kaoru, too began to cry. She didn't want to leave them. Misao, who had been her friend since the beginning of high school and Megumi, who she had met during the first year of college. 

_We were going to graduate together and throw a party afterwards, _Misao thought sadly with yearning.

Megumi, too, shed tears. The past four years, she had gotten to be really good friends with both Kaoru and Misao. To have one of them leave so suddenly like this . . she was speechless.

Kaoru looked around her room and at her two dear friends and gave a teary smile. "Thanks. . thanks for being such great friends."

They embraced one another tightly, afraid to let go.

- -  - - - - - - - - - - - - -  -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Kenshin and Tomoe sat together on the couch flipping through some channels on the television. 

"I don't understand it Tomoe," Kenshin started, "we have over a hundred channels and yet there's nothing of substance to watch."

Tomoe laughed quietly and shook her head. Her dark brown eyes glistened as she watched Kenshin giving a pout of boredom. Being with him, it had changed her a little. She felt happier. Tomoe sighed as she picked up the dirty dishes and carried them over to the sink.

Kenshin, who saw Tomoe do so, quickly got up and helped her. "It's not fair, Tomoe. You already cooked, and yet you get to clean also?"

Tomoe laughed. "I can do this, Kenshin."

Kenshin narrowed his eyes playfully. "No, just let me finish up. Let's go rent a movie to watch later, alright?"

Tomoe nodded as she let him go clean up. The man was so thoughtful and being with him felt like a dream at times. She never thought she would be as happy as she was now, since . . since .. 

Akira.

- - - - -  - - - -- - -- - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -  -- - - - - -- - - - - -

_At Kaoru, Megumi, and Misao's Apartment_

"Jou-chan, you can't be serious!" Sano said with wide eyes in disbelief. He ran his fingers through his spiky hair as he awaited her response.

Aoshi watched from the other side intently.

Kaoru looked down and fumbled with her fingers. She had a hard enough time saying goodbye to Misao and Megumi. She looked back up at the man before her. Sano was also a friend that she had met during her last year of middle school. She had always thought of him as the brother she never had. 

"It's true. My father has a weak heart and needs to get an operation. That's why I need to go home," she said.

Sano looked at the girl with a frown. "I'm sorry Jou-chan," he started as he gave her a tight embrace. " … but can't you come back once the surgery is over? It is our final year .."

Kaoru closed her eyes as another tear found its way down her cheek. "I can't. His condition . .it's unstable especially because of the high stress work he has. I have to help him teach lessons at the dojo. It's his dream."

She paused as she looked him in the eye and said while placing her hand over the beating of her heart, "And it's my own."

Sano let her go and looked at her with sad eyes of understanding. "I understand Jou-chan." He looked down and coughed, he was trying to hide the tears that began to form in his brown eyes. "Y-you know . . you're like a sister to me. If there's anything that I can do . ."

Kaoru placed a hand upon his own. "Thank you Sano. I feel like you're the brother I never had."

Sano smiled warmly as he looked at her. Then he remembered with a jolt, "What about Kenshin? Have you told him?"

Kaoru paled.

"Shit Jou-chan. You're leaving tomorrow and you haven't told Kenshin yet?"

Kaoru looked back down at her feet "I . . I am going to tell him tonight."

Sano looked sadly at her. "I – I . . okay." He was at a loss for words. He stood up and embraced his friend tightly. Aoshi also stood up.

"We should be going. We'd only be a nuisance to Kamiya-san. She still has a lot of packing to do," he stated.

Sano slowly let go of his Jou-chan as he nodded. "You take care, you hear?" he said with a smile. Kaoru nodded. They made their way out the door as they said their good-byes. 

"I wish you the best in the future, Kamiya-san," Aoshi said while putting his hand out for her to shake. The blue-eyed girl gave a meek smile and nodded her thanks. Aoshi was more of an acquaintance that she had met through Misao during college. But because Misao had constantly talked about him, _more like worshipped him, _Kaoru added, Kaoru felt like she could call him a friend also. Countless times had Misao said that Aoshi was her 'soul mate', her 'soon to be lover', her 'one and only.' Kaoru just found that it was hilarious that Aoshi seemed so oblivious to her love.

She said her last good-byes as she watched her two friends leave.

-  - - - -  - -  - - - -  -  - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -  -- - - --  - - - -

_A few hours later_

Tomoe and Kenshin sat comfortably next to one another on the couch watching one of the movies they had rented from Blockbuster. It was a Chinese movie starring Jet Li called "Hero". Kenshin smiled as he looked at Tomoe's facial expressions throughout the movie. _She is so beautiful_, he thought to himself.

He turned his attention back to the television. Jet Li was deflecting all the arrows with his sword. Kenshin sighed. It had been awhile since he had last practiced Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu under his Uncle Hiko. The last time he had done any sort sparring was with Kaoru. 

_Kaoru . . I wonder if she's feeling better.._

Kenshin continued to watch the movie as he thought, _Kaoru would like watching this also._ As the minutes passed by, the movie became more and more engrossing. 

_*RING, *RING_

Tomoe looked up from the television as she prepared to get up to go to the other room. Kenshin put a hand over her shoulder and shook his head. "It's probably someone who wants to go out to some club tonight. I just want to stay here with you."

She smiled as she sat back down. She placed her head upon his shoulders and she felt happy. After a couple of rings, the answering machine picked up.

'Ano . . hi Kenshin. This .. this is Kaoru .. I'm just calling to tell you that . . that . .I'm leaving.'

_CLICK_

And the message was left unheard.

- - -  - - - - - -  -- - -  - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - -- - - - - 

_The next day_

"Kaoru-dono! Kaoru-dono!" Kenshin called as he frantically ran to the train station looking through the windows of each car of the train. His red mane was in a mess as he pushed his way through the crowds of people. His eyes were crazily looking about searching for a girl with bright blue eyes. He had received the message she had left just an hour earlier and had called Megumi and Misao about where she was going, what transportation she was taking, what time she was departing, etc. 

Tomoe came with him to help look for her.

"Kaoru-dono! Kaoru-dono!"

Kaoru sat back in the seat with some tears in her eyes. She heard his voice and she was afraid of facing him again. She was afraid that if she were to see him or talk to him that she would tell him the truth. That she would tell him that she loved him.

She knew that if she told him, it would only complicate matters. _I'll only make matters more difficult for Kenshin. I don't want to make him feel guilty for not loving me back . . ._ She wiped another tear that fell quietly from her blue eyes. She fingered the blood red silk scarf around her neck tenderly. _That's right .. Kenshin doesn't belong to me. He never did._

_He never will._

More tears fell from her eyes onto the scarf. It held many fond memories. It was the first gift that Kenshin had given her when they were in middle school. The boy had saved up his allowance money that his uncle had given to him in order to buy it for her birthday. Kaoru smiled sadly. 

And slowly unwound the scarf from her neck.

"Kaoru-dono!"

She heard his voice again and her heart ached as she sat back farther in her seat afraid to be seen. But it was too late. Kenshin had seen her and had run up into the train.

He saw her and his face lit up in happiness and relief. _Thank god, she hasn't left yet._ With renewed energy, he climbed up the steps into the car of the train where she was located. She was wearing a plain white shirt and blue jeans with her black hair pulled back with a headband. His heart began to beat faster as he saw her blue eyes look up at him.

"Kaoru-dono," Kenshin said with a tender smile on his face. He pulled her into a comfortable embrace. "I'm so glad that I found you right now. I was so scared that you would have left already." His breath tickled Kaoru's ear. 

As he continued to hold onto her, he noticed how stiff she had become.

"Kenshin . . I . . I have to go," she stated while looking off to the corner. She pulled away from him and picked up the luggage that was on the seat.

"Why are you leaving?" he asked as he grabbed her luggage from her and began to haul them back outside. "We have midterms coming up soon! Who's going to help me study Greek Literature?" he asked with a light smile.

Kaoru looked down at her feet. "My father is sick and has to have surgery back home in Kyoto. I have to go see him and take care of him." Kenshin paused and turned around. 

"So you'll be back in two weeks, right?"

She slowly shook her head 'no'.

Kenshin stared at her dumbfounded as he shook off the uncomfortable feeling a smile. "So you're coming back next semester then right?"

She shifted her feet, but continued to look down on the ground. "No," she paused as she clenched her fists, "I'm not coming back".

At that moment his heart stopped. He continued to stare at her. Blood had begun to drain from his upper body as realization dawned on him. "Wh- what do you mean? I mean . .we're graduating soon! You can't just leave like that! We've already worked so hard to get this far! What . .what are you doing, Kaoru-dono?!?! You can't leave!!"

"I'm sorry." A tear fell onto the floor. The wetness did not go unnoticed by Kenshin. He grabbed her upper arms and shook her. 

"Y-you! Do you know what you're saying?!?!"

She looked up at him and his breath caught in his throat. Her eyes were full of tears and they had become a bit red. Her eyelids had also turned puffy from all the crying that she had been doing. Anger filled in Kenshin. He let go of her violently and stormed out of the train. Kaoru ran up to the door.

"Kenshin!"

Kenshin ignored her as he kept walking with his back faced towards her.

"Just go! Just forget about coming back! Just forget about school! Forget about us!"

Tomoe watched the scene with saddened eyes as Kenshin stormed away from the train. And from Kaoru.

Kaoru clenched the scarf that she still gripped tightly in her fists. She looked over at Tomoe with mellow blue eyes. She caressed the silky fabric one more time as she threw it towards the other woman. _The woman Kenshin loves. _ Kenshin was hers now.

As the silk left Kaoru's hands, more tears began to well up in the girl's eyes. Tomoe watched in pain as she saw Kaoru cry. The train whistled. They were about to go.

Kenshin turned around in shock at the unwelcome noise. One of his worst nightmares was finally coming true. Kaoru was leaving him. He quickly looked back up at her and saw her standing near the door. The soft turn of the engine came on and the train started moving forward. His heart clenched in pain. He didn't want her to leave. Not like this.

Not a farewell like this.

He started running.

Kaoru looked back and saw Kenshin. His beautiful auburn hair was in a mess and his clothes had dirt caked onto it from the dust that the train was blowing on him. 

"Kaoru, Kaoru !! I . . I . . I'll come and see you!!"

Kaoru couldn't help but let out a small smile. It was the first time that he had addressed her without the dono.

He watched as the train left the station and the loud steam engine became a distant hum. He looked back at Tomoe and saw it. The scarf that he had given to Kaoru. The significance of the scarf had not been lost on him. Kaoru was gone.

She had left him.

- -  - - - -  - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 

_It was at that moment that I realized that I had come in between them._

_After Kaoru left, we tried to find out her whereabouts. Kenshin even went to Kyoto to visit her at the address she had left. But when he got there, he found out that her father had died during the operation because his heart was too weak. And Kaoru . . . she had moved._

_Left Kyoto._

_ She never called or wrote to him_

_Before we graduated from college, Kenshin proposed to me and we were married the week after graduation. A part of me thinks that we were married so quickly was because . .because he was afraid that I would leave him also._

_You know, in the beginning when Kenshin and I had started to spend more time together studying, I was afraid. I was afraid that I was replacing him with Akira. Akira was the man that I had first fell in love with. We had started dating in high school and continued up until college. We agreed that we would get married as soon as we graduated. That made me so happy. _

_One day while I was at home I received a call._

_Akira told me he was going to come over because he had something important to tell me. You don't know how excited I had been awaiting for him to arrive. The beating of my heart was almost deafening. _

_But the minutes ticked by._

_Hours ticked by._

_Then the doorbell rang.._

_ I was going to scold Akira for being so late and for making me so worried. I opened the door._

_And it wasn't Akira._

_It was a policeman. _

_Akira had been in a car accident and had been killed on contact. Those few words . .with those few words, I felt as if my world had fallen apart that day. Then the policeman took out a diamond ring from his coat pocket. I felt my throat tighten and my mind become hazy. I took the ring and shut the door. I looked at the object for hours and hours. I knew. I knew. Akira was coming to propose to me that day. And and . . he had gotten into the accident on his way over to my house._

_I don't remember what happened after the realization. I blacked out. The days afterward passed by in a hazy state. I don't recall how I had spent them._

_ Akira's  family hated me and blamed me for his death._

_It didn't matter because I had blamed myself also._

_My father was worried about my withdrawn attitude. One year later, he transferred me to Tokyo University. He said that I had too many memories back in Kyoto. A part of me agreed with him. I wanted to move on, but at the same time I wanted to remember. I wanted to remember him. I thought that by moving to a new city and thus starting a new life, that I would forget Akira._

_But your father showed me differently. He was the one that showed me that Akira still had a place in my heart and will always have one. He showed me that it wasn't my fault that Akira had gotten into an accident that day. And most importantly, he showed me that I could love again._

_That is why dear Kaoru-chan . .why I want your father to be happy again._

_I saw it in his eyes whenever he spoke to Kaoru, looked at Kaoru, and talked about Kaoru. That special light. It was only reserved for one person. Her._

_I once asked my father whether or not it was wrong to see love in two people's eyes and not tell them about it. He told me that it wouldn't have mattered if I had told them or not. They would have to realize the love for themselves because it's not love if they don't. _

_When I was alive, I had tried to locate her whereabouts ever since she left that day. I had no such luck and now I'm passing down the task to you._

_Please find Kamiya Kaoru and bring her back her first love._

_Love,_

_Okaasan_

-

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- To be continued ( . . . _and so the real plot begins to unfold_)

**Author's Notes:**

Please read and review! I would really appreciate it if you left some feedback and any comments/criticisms ! ^_^ But thanks to those who have been leaving reviews! I enjoy reading them.

Tomoe and Kenshin loved each other. Yes, it was a pure and true love and they had a happy marriage although it was very short. However, I think that Kenshin and Kaoru are soul mates just like how Akira and Tomoe are soul mates (though they seem to be rather tragic ones). 

And another point, no Kenshin didn't know that Kaoru loved him. Sad, huh? =*(

Also . . if you enjoy this fic, I would recommend you to watch the Indian movie that this fic is based off of. "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" It's well worth it although it lasts about three and a half hours. It's like a musical. Great songs and dance sequences. The story is well worth watching. I've actually watched this movie like four or five times. (the whole thing!) .. and it got me into other Bollywood movies.

_Reader Responses:_

__

__

**Koishii Sweet** – Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it thus far.

**Oni Tokage** – Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying this story as well. ^_^ I'm still in the process of working on  "A Memory Forgotten." It's been taking longer than I thought it would at first. I know I left it at a pretty evil cliffhanger. =x. Gomen gomen! And thanks for the info about grade schools. =0) 

**Ryoga** – Thanks!

**Saotome** – Thanks!

**Kakashi** – Thanks for reviewing all the chapters thus far. I appreciate it.

**TenkunoMeiou** – Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story so far. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**MissBehavin** – Hello! I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter. I hope you enjoy this one as well. Hmm .. yes, Kaoru is pretty strong emotionally in this fic ^_^. If only I can be just as strong . . maybe ^_^ 

**CurlsofSerenity** – Hi! Wow, I'm glad you like this fic too. =) *smiles happily. Hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

**Wistful-Eyes** – Hello. I'm glad you liked my portrayal of Megumi. I always thought of her as the logical-thinking one and has her fun making wise cracks and teasing Misao and Kaoru.  Yeah, I agree. I don't like fics where she is portrayed as a "sharp-snooty-flirt" as you call it. ^_^ 

**Alli** – Hello! Thanks for reviewing! Hehe .. evil side and good side? ^_^ I think I have one too, evil side that is. 

*evil side of donna –  "no kaoru and no tomoe for you, kenshin!"

                                       kenshin looks up and whimpers.

                                        "not even just one?"

                                       "NO!"

Lol . .ok, that was a bit twisted.

**Naruto Fan** – Thanks

**Fan4000** – Thanks for reviewing! Sorry this was another sad chapter. Tomoe's story is pretty sad too. I tried to make it similar to the actual series. =/ .. with Akira dying and all, but I didn't want Kenshin to kill him off like he did in the manga. 

**CrismHeart** – Hi. I'm glad you like the story so far. And thanks for reviewing my other one-shot fic! =D Hehe . I'm glad you liked it. Yeah, this was another sad chapter. =( Poor Kaoru, Poor Tomoe, and Poor Kenshin. Sniff sniff..

**Serenity Blossom** - ^_^ I'm glad you've enjoyed the chapters so far! Hope you enjoy the rest of the story as it unfolds. 


	7. Beginnings

**Disclaimer: **Rurouni Kenshin is not mine. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is not mine either. Oh the tragedy . .

In the strange world of Rurouni Kenshin, the author popped out and called to Kenshin. The crimson-haired man looked up into the sky. The sun grew brighter, the clouds parted, and a shout of 'hallelujah!' was heard from beyond. 

"Oro?" 

"Kenshin . . I have found that while reading through this series, you have had too many women. Even Shishio had only one woman by his side. You had Tomoe and now you have Kaoru. To punish you, I've decided to take away Kaoru."

"Oro? Sessha . . sessha doesn't understand de gozaru."

"Kenshin! I hope you didn't sneak out to do laundry again! Come inside and put Kenji to bed. It's time for his nap," Kaoru called from behind him.

"Hai!" Kenshin peered suspiciously up at the sky and with a wave of the hand dismissed it as he walked back into the dojo. _I'm hearing things again. _

*_POOF!_

Kaoru, who had stood before him just a second ago, suddenly disappeared. Kenshin grew wide-eyed as he looked around. After a few minutes of searching the grounds, he growled and raised a shaky fist to the air. "Give me back Kaoru-dono!"

A crack of thunder was heard from the far distance that slightly resembled cackling. Kenshin's eyes narrowed as they turned amber and he pulled his sword out of his sheath as he directed it at the sky.

"GIVE ME BACK KAORU-DONO!"

"Haha! Now you will face the wrath of the author!"

"Sessha does not deserve any wrath, that he doesn't. Sessha has been repenting, that he has."

"You are getting the wrath of women whom you have scorned!"

"Oro? What women?"

"And_ **men!"**_

****

"Orororo! Sessha is straight, that he is." 

Flashes of pictures of women who had loved him flashed through his eyes. Megumi, Shura, Koneko, Sakura, the list went on and then it started to show images of men who had once ..

"Don't say it!" Kenshin pleaded.

The author cleared her throat and then continued on with the images: Ryu, Yuuhi, Sasuke . . .. . the list that went on was much longer than the list of females. Kenshin sweatdropped. _I'm a man for god sakes and I'm straight. I'll make sure to never cross paths with them again._ The thought sent shivers down his spine and they were not good shivers either.

" . .and Saitou."

Kenshin stopped and looked up. "Ano . . did I heard that right?"

The author laughed. "You heard it right."

Kenshin sweatdropped again as his eyes grew swirly and his skin grew a sickly green shade. _Not Saitou! That  . .that. _Kenshin swallowed back the nauseous feeling in his stomach.

"Battousai! What's with the commotion around here?" A tall policeman strode into the grounds with a cigarette placed in between his fingers.

The red-haired man fainted on the spot from fear.

(_Saitou is not gay. I just wanted to poke fun with the dialogue!_)

**Author's Notes**: Hehe .. I know that the above was a bit weird, but it's late at night and I felt like typing up something wacky. =P Blame it on my sporadic insomnia ^_^. 

I think I'm on a role here! I've pretty much finished the chapter after this one also! Well, not quite. So maybe I can update again sometime towards the end of this week or early next week.

**Special Thanks to moderndaybattousai  and Tenshi no Sin for adding me to your Favorite Author's List! ***author smiles brightly

**Warning:  Characters are a bit OOC (especially the new one)**

**~ WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES ~**

**Chapter 7**

**Beginnings**

**­­­­­­­**

_Present Day, Kaoru-chan = 8 years old, A week after her birthday_

_"Hello! Welcome back to MTV Road Rules!"_

"Kaoru-chan! Turn the volume down on the TV!" Kenshin yelled from across the room. He was busy doing paperwork from the office. There was going to be a big merge in the upcoming days and it would mean big business and big money for the company. 

The volume was turned down. Kaoru watched intently as the people on screen were getting ready to play a quick game.

_TV_

_"Okay guys, here's the game. I say a word and you say the word that comes first to your mind. The word that you say in response to mine is from your subconscious. Okay, let's begin. ._

_"Flirting."_

_"Kissing."_

_"Beautiful."_

_"Anjali." All eyes turned to the guy who had said the name of one of the girls from the program. _

_"So you secretly have a crush on Anjali, Rahul?" the person who gave the rules of the game said with a hint of playfulness in her voice._

_Rahul turned red as he tried to shrug it off. Anjali's eyes widened as she watched the man and she blushed also. _

_"Haha! It looks like Anjali likes you, too!"_

_Click, TV is turned off_

_This is a great idea_, Kaoru thought to herself as she hit her hand with her fist. _I can find out how otousan feels about Kaoru!_

"Otou-san!" Kaoru looked up from the couch towards her father who was sitting at the table.

Kenshin lowered his reading glasses as he looked up from his paperwork and at his daughter. "Yes, Kaoru-chan?"

"Can I play a quick word game with you?"

"Your otousan has lots of work to do right now, Kaoru-chan. Maybe in a little bit?" Kenshin said apologetically. 

Kaoru made a pout as she put on her puppy dog face. Her lavender eyes were wide and teary looking. Kenshin sighed. "Okay, okay. Just for a little while, all right?" he said with a laugh as he stood up and walked over to her.

Kaoru jumped up and down in excitement. "Okay! Real fast! It's a word association game. Like if you said red, I'd say apple. Okay?"

Her dad laughed and nodded his head in understanding the rules. 

"Me first!" Kaoru said while pumping her hand into the hair. The young girl's vivacity and cheerfulness made Kenshin's heart warm. _If Tomoe were here . . she'd be so proud. _

"Maa, maa. Sit down first Kaoru-chan. You'll wear me out if you keep jumping around like this."

Kaoru cupped a hand over mouth to stifle her laughter. "Hai hai. Okay. First word. Food."

"Miso," Kenshin replied quickly.

"Gi."

"Magenta."

_Magenta? _Kaoru wondered. _How did he come up with that one? _She shrugged it off as she continued the game, "Sword."

"Sakabatou."

"Love."

"Friendship," Kenshin responded.

"Kaoru."

"Kamiya."

A pregnant pause came afterwards.  Kaoru-chan's heart began to beat faster. This meant that her father still thought about her. She looked up at her father innocently. "Ano . .otousan? Do you have another Kaoru?"

Kenshin laughed as he loosened his tie that was around his neck. He had started to sweat. "Ano . . your otousan used to have a good friend named Kamiya Kaoru."

"Oh?" Kaoru asked, her interest perking up. She got up to take her father's hand and pull him into the couch with her. "What about her? Can you tell me about her?"

Kenshin smiled wistfully as he looked down. "She was full of life, beautiful, funny, and compassionate. You know . .in many ways, you are just like her." Kaoru smiled. "But . . sometime before we graduated from college she left and I haven't seen her since."

"Oh . ." she said melancholically as she looked down at her hands. 

Kenshin gave a firm pat on her back. "But that's all in the past. . anyway, why are you so interested?"

The young girl faked a laugh. "It's nothing otousan. I was just wondering. I would have thought that I would be the first Kaoru that would come to your mind." 

Kenshin laughed as he got up. "You're always on my mind, Kaoru-hime. Now I have to go and finish up the paperwork."

"Okay," she said with a smile as she turned back to the television screen. As she flipped through the channels the only thing that she could think of was, 

_I have to find Kamiya Kaoru .. Okaasan's wish . _

_Kami-sama, please help me fulfill okaasan's wish._

_But . .Where do I start?_

- - -  - - - - -  - - - -  - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - -- - - - -

"Why do I have to do all the menial labor around here. I'm not your slave you know, busu!" a young boy said while roughly scrubbing the wooden floors of the dojo.

Kaoru looked up from her dusting. "You're not the only one who is cleaning, Yahiko-CHAN!"

Yahiko's squeezed the sponge in his hand harder in frustration. "I'm not a kid!"

Kaoru smiled victoriously as she continued with her feather mop. She began to hum to herself as time went on. Her physical appearance had changed quite a bit since college. Her hair had grown long and reached her waist. Her face had become much more mature due to the hardships she had gone through in life, however it only made her beauty that much more prominent and made her that much more of a stronger person. For the past nine years Kaoru had moved to another city in Japan, Kobe, which was located south of Kyoto. It was not as large of a city as Kyoto or Tokyo. She moved there because her only other living relative, Dr. Genzai's sister, resided in that city. Since her father had died, Kaoru did not have enough money or the ability to maintain the large dojo in Kyoto.  The little money that he did leave her, she used to open a smaller dojo in Kobe. 

In the beginning, no one would allow her to teach at the other dojos nor did she have any students attending her own school. But through time, people around the area began to recognize that although she was a woman, she was very skilled in the arts of kendo. Even though this was so, she had only two students that went to her dojo. 

One of her students, Myojin Yahiko, had been living with her for the past two years and she had grown to see him as a younger brother. Two years ago, he was a pickpocket that had tried to steal Kaoru's wallet, but Kaoru had caught him. Afterwards, the girl had found out that the boy was working for a local gang that was using the fact that Yahiko's parents owed some "debt" and the young boy had to pay it off. When Kaoru learned about where he was located, she went to save him. In the end, she had brought back the boy, but she couldn't say she had come out of the matter unscathed.

The other student, Yutaro, used to belong to another dojo run by a man named Raijuuta. The dojo was shut down once government officials found that Raijuuta was spending the money from the school for malicious dealings. Since Kaoru used to go to that dojo to give lessons at times, Yutaro came to her to continue his studies. 

Although she had students, she did not have enough money to pay off the rent and food. Because of this, she made most of her money teaching a few lessons at other dojos. Since summer had begun to approach, Kaoru had decided that she would advertise her kendo school to larger cities such as Tokyo and Kyoto. She hoped that more students would enroll.

"Kaoru," a man's voice called warmly.

Kaoru spun around wide-eyed. 

The man smiled as he grabbed her from behind and embraced her tightly. "I missed you," he whispered into her ear. Kaoru chuckled lightly as she became free of his arms.

"Hey! No kissing and stuff like that! I have virgin eyes, ya know!" Yahiko shouted from the far side of the room.

"Mou! Enishi! We're still cleaning up," she said with a pout as she gently nudged him away.

Enishi grinned as he smoothed back his spiky white hair. His turquoise eyes creased into smile as he looked at the woman before him. "All right." He looked at his wristwatch. "You still have an hour left, but you're coming to dinner with me. Wear something nice."

Kaoru smiled and nodded. Enishi then walked over to where the young boy was and ruffled his hair.

"Hey hey! No touching!" he said while pushing Enishi's hands away. "I don't want the old hag's germs on me!"

"Five hundred katas after we clean up, Yahiko-CHAN!" a stern voice commanded from the other side of the room.

"WHAT?!?! That's not fair!" Yahiko yelled with his fist raised. There was no way he was going to do extra swings after cleaning up the place. He still had Tsubame to visit that night. He began mumbling to himself about old hags.

"Hey Yahiko. That's not nice. Kaoru's only making you stronger by doing this," Enishi chided with a grin.

Yahiko looked up and sighed. "But . . but . . oh, all right. I'll surprise that dumb Yutaro with my strength next time we spar."

Enishi chuckled. "That's the right attitude."

- - -  - -  --  - - - - - - - - - - -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - -

_An hour later_

The couple had arrived at the Italian restaurant "The Stinking Rose". (A/N: Arnold Schwarzenegger's fav restaurant =x). They had received several glances while they were walking towards a table. Many people nodded in agreement that the two seemed to look good together. 

Kaoru was dressed in a long blue gown that clung closely to her curves. Her long raven-black hair was tied up in a bun. Enishi smiled as he watched her sit down in the seat across from at the dinner table. He had decided that he wanted to take her somewhere special because he had something to tell her that night.

"I didn't think it was possible, but you look even more beautiful tonight," he said.

Kaoru blushed. "T-thank you, Enishi. You look . . nice tonight also."

Enishi grinned. He was wearing a black suit that highlighted his blue-green eyes. The confidence and tall stature that oozed from this man had always attracted many women. But the only person that Enishi had eyes for was Kaoru, the woman before him.

"So what did you want for dinner?"

Kaoru scanned the menu and made a face. She furrowed her brows as she tried to guess what each item was. Enishi chuckled softly under his breath at Kaoru's many expressions. He had always liked how the woman's many emotions could be seen easily on her face. He had dated too many women who had second agendas when they were with him. Not only was Enishi good-looking, but he also had money, lots of money. Most of the women he had dated before had only interest in his bank account and could have cared less about knowing the "real" him. But Kaoru .. this girl was different. She was honest, truthful, and compassionate. Character traits that were lacking in the women he had dated in the past.

"What's wrong?" he asked after a minute more of enjoying the display.

She hmphed and crossed her arms as she lay back in the seat, "These words . . I can't read it at all! Mou! Enishi, why'd you pick someplace where we can't understand what's on the menu!"

Enishi laughed this time. "It's Italian. I was able to study some of it during my college years in China."

"Oh."

"Well, the penne pesto with scallops and lobster is pretty good. Why don't you order that?"

Kaoru put a finger over her lower lip and tapped, contemplating and then nodded. "I guess so. What are you ordering?"

Enishi scrutinized the menu as he finally decided and pointed to the dish he wished to order. "Pasta primavera with shrimp." And then he looked through the menu once more. "Let's finish up with spumoni."

Kaoru looked up confused. "Sp- Spoo . .what?"

"Spumoni. It's an Italian ice cream."

"Oh."

Kaoru's face reddened. She always felt out-classed when she was with Enishi. He seemed to know so many things, while she knew very little. Enishi was even better than her at sword fighting, an art that Kaoru had specialized in the majority of her life. _Mou! He's even better than me at cooking!_, she added to herself whil a small frown began to appear on her face.

Enishi caught the slight frown and asked, "What's wrong Kaoru?"

Kaoru looked up surprised. _How could he tell I was upset? _"I . .nothing. It's just that . . I feel a bit awkward being in this dress," she replied as she picked at the thin straps of her dress that were making her skin itchy. _I always hated these kinds of things!_

Enishi's face turned a bit red while watching her and he began to pull the collar around his neck to loosen it. _Stop it!_, he berated himself. _But .. the way she looks now .._

The woman looked up at her companion with a worried face. "Are you okay? You seem a bit flustered."

The man's eyes widened a little when he was caught and he broke into a semi-sheepish smile. "Um . ." he started, "I . . I was just wondering where the waiter was since we've already decided what to order."

Kaoru glanced at him suspiciously with one eyebrow raised. "Okaaay. But if you're not feeling well, we can go home."

"I'm feeling fine. I'm just ready to order now, that's all," he replied quickly as he scanned the room for a waiter.

_An hour and a half later_

" . . and Wu Heishin said 'There's no way I'm going to work with a man who doesn't know Chinese. Na ge shen jing bing bu hao de dong xi!' (That no good crazy person!) And he said it right in the man's face. You could imagine how the American man had felt at the time."

Kaoru laughed jovially. Enishi watched her and his heart warmed. He had never felt like this about anyone before. The twinkle in the blue midsts of her eyes was captivating. He smiled. She had to be the one. When Kaoru stopped laughing they found that the waiter had already put out the desserts in front of them.

Enishi watched the girl eat her own dish with anticipation.

Kaoru took the spoon and tried a bite of it. "Mmm! This is great, Enishi!" Enishi nodded his head as he took a bite of his own, but he couldn't help but steal anxious glances at Kaoru while she was eating.

_SPUTTER_

*_COUGH COUGH_

Kaoru stood up with her hands bracing the table as her blue eyes grew in alarm. Enishi's eyes went wide with shock as he quickly went over to her side and patted her back, encouraging her to keep coughing. All the customers stopped what they were doing and focused on the couple.

_*COUGH, COUGH_

And then something launched through the air from Kaoru's mouth into the soup of the person whose table was next to theirs.

After taking a few labored breaths, Kaoru regained her composure. "Enishi! I can't believe that they stuck something that big into the dessert!" she said with exasperation. Her face was all red. Enishi didn't know what to do. He was on the brink of laughing and dying of embarrassment. 

"Excuse me, sir. I do believe this is yours?" the man said as he took an object out of the soup.

Kaoru looked up at the object that the other man held between his fingers. 

It was a ring. _Is Enishi . . Is Enishi . . is he . . am I.. _Her heart began to beat faster and her breathing quickened. 

Enishi strode over to the man and apologized about the mishap and said that he would pay to replace his soup. The man nodded his head. Then the silver-haired man took the ring and walked over to the woman who was still in shock.

He got down on one of his knees and looked into her widened eyes. With a tender smile and unwavering eyes he took one of her hands ever so gently.

"Will you marry me, Kamiya Kaoru?"

-

-

-

-

-

-

- To be continued. (_and so the plot thickens)_

**Author's Notes:**

Please read and review! Thanks much! Here are some questions that may have arisen while reading this fic:

**1.) Why the heck is Enishi so OOC?**

a) This is Modern Day (no war and such for Enishi to get upset about)

b) Tomoe is not his sister, but a cousin. (this will be explained in the later chapters)

c) He did not see her killed. Instead, she had died a natural death.

d) Kenshin is just a normal guy .. not Battousai (so Enishi doesn't have the feeling that he needs to have revenge of any sort on him or wreak Heavenly Justice upon him)

e) . . and the list can go on. ^_^ 

On another note, it was hard deciding who Kaoru would be with: Soujiro or Enishi, but in the end I chose Enishi because Soujiro is one of the main characters in my other story and the dynamic between Enishi and Kenshin is much more interesting. =) Plus, I love Enishi/Kaoru hehe. ^_^ 

**2.) How does Kenshin's daughter feel about finding Kaoru and bringing her dad together with her? **

a) Chibi Kaoru (Kenshin's daughter) hasn't had a mother since birth. She doesn't know how it feels to have one and she wants a mother.

b) Her mother, Tomoe, has given her a mission to find Kaoru and bring her dad and her back together. Since it's her mother's wish, chibi Kaoru would gladly do it.

**3.) Dr. Genzai's sister?**

a) If you've watched the series, Dr. Genzai's sister appears in the Raijuuta Arc where they meet Yutaro.

**4.) What about the part where Anjali puts on make up and dresses up in order to impress Rahul? (For those who are avid fans of Kuch Kuch Hota Hai like me ^_^)**

a) I was going to add this scene into the story, but I didn't because unlike Anjali, Kaoru had two good friends who would have told her how to put on make up and how to dress up (ie. Mainly Megumi). So I didn't think this part would blow over well.

_Reader Responses_:

**OniTokage** – Yay! I'm so glad you finally updated your fic. ^_^ Hehe. It was great! =) Anyway, in the first chapter when Kenshin clenched his fists after hearing that her daughter's name would be Kaoru wasn't out of anger. It was more out of sadness and hurt because Kaoru had left him. And now Tomoe was leaving him.

**MissBehavin** – Hello! Yeah, =) in the movie there was a scene like that and the male lead character gets upset and yells at the girl. It was so sad on screen and I had started to tear up during that scene. ^_^ If you have the time, you really should watch "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" The movie is great. =D 

**Lonelystar-07** – Thanks for reviewing. ^_^ I know it's been a pretty sad story so far, but expect things to lighten up a bit later. =D

**PhoenixG** – Hi! I'm an absolute fan of Sharukh Khan and Kajol (Rahul/Anjali). I loved that movie and I love it still. The last time I saw it, I got the idea for this fic because I could see it happening between Kenshin and Kaoru. Haha . . the hot character . . could you mean the guy that Anjali was going to marry? It's Enishi in this fic! I had a hard time choosing who . . Soujiro or Enishi .. but since Soujiro was a main character in my other fic "A Memory Forgotten", I chose Enishi. =) I think there can be more interesting tension between him and Kenshin anyways.

**Koishii Sweet** - =D Hi. I'm glad you liked the story so far. I hope you liked this chapter as well.

**Ryoga** – Thanks for reviewing

**Saotome** – Thanks for reviewing!

**Tenshi no Sin** – Hi. Thanks for the review. I'm glad you liked it so far. Hmm .. whether or not it ends well. =) You'll see. This is based off a Bollywood movie after all and if you're familiar with the Bollywood movie genre, you'd know. ^_^

**Anna** – Thanks!

**Wistful-Eyes** – I liked how you used the Kaoru(1) and Kaoru(2). Anyway, thanks for asking the question, I'm sure others have wondered that also. So I hope the above answer made sense. =D

**Moderndaybattousai** – Thanks for reviewing! 

**Rekka's Angel** – Hello! Thanks for the kind review! Things will start getting more cheerful in the upcoming chapters. =D

**Oyuki** – Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like the story so far. =D

**Clemen** – Yeah, it's sad that Kaoru's dad died. Sniff sniff. . but things will start to lighten up as the story goes on.

**Kakashi** – Thanks

**Rurouni madness** – Hello! I'm glad you like this romance/drama fic. =) It's based off of one of my favorite movies =) (I'm sure you have heard the title over twenty times by now .. hehe). Hmm .. yeah I think your senses are right about that.

**Ice angel Kaoru** – =D Another Kuch Kuch fan! =D I'm so happy. Hehe. Actually, it's funny. I'm Chinese, but I was introduced to Bollywood movies like two years ago. "Kuch Kuch" was the first one! And I have loved them ever since. (well, a certain few.) And yes, I bawled my eyes out during the scene where Anjali left Rahul. Well, the whole business meeting thing and summer camp thing .. I'm sure you can tell where I'm going with that through this chapter. I hope you enjoy the rest! And if you have any ideas, please throw them at me!

**Fan4000** – Thanks for reviewing. ^_^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. 

**Serenity Blossom** – The part you want to see is finally coming? Hehe . . 

**CrismHeart** – Hi hi. Thanks for reviewing again. =) I'm happy you like it. Hehe ..yeah, I have midterms coming up too. But luckily the next couple of chapters won't be sad. =D

**^_^X** – Hi. Thanks for the review! I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**ME** – Thanks for the review! The next couple of chapters are pretty light and happy.

**Jen** – Thanks for the comments. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.


	8. The Answer

**Disclaimer: **Rurouni Kenshin is not mine, but I'll take Enishi. ^_^  "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" does not belong to me either, and Sharukh Khan is already happily married. Sigh. (Yes, I agree .. Sharukh Khan and Kajol are the BEST Bollywood couple ever!)****

**Author's Notes: **I love Enishi in this one. 

**Special Thanks to Tsukasa Ryuu, kagome32 and CrismHeart for adding me to your Favorite Author's List! **

**Warning: Characters a bit OOC.**

**~ WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES ~**

**Chapter 8**

**The Answer**

_"Will you marry me, Kamiya Kaoru?"_

Those words repeated in her head over and over again as she watched the man kneel on one of his knees before her. Her heartbeat quickened as her palms became sweaty. Her sapphire blue eyes were wide open in shock. 

Images and emotions flooded her mind.

_What do I say?, _Kaoru thought with trepidation. She had known Enishi for two years. Two long years. She had begun dating him a little over a year ago after much persuasion from Dr. Genzai's sister and Enishi himself. 

Kaoru looked at the man before her.

The silver-haired man with turquoise eyes.

Her heart ached a little. She had imagined this scenario so many times. _So many, many times_. The only problem was .. it wasn't him. 

But Enishi .. he had been there for her and she found that she could love him even . .

That is . . when she forgot that she loved another.

Dr. Genzai's sister, Hana, had been very good to Kaoru for the past eight years. Like a grandmother and friend even. She had supported Kaoru through both thick and thin.  Her one wish was to see Kaoru get married. Hana was getting any younger and Kaoru was close to becoming thirty. After that it would be even harder to find a suitable husband.

She took a breath

And said . . .

- -  - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - - - - - - - --  - - -- - - - - - -- - - 

_"Will you marry me, Kamiya Kaoru?"_

As he was on knees, Enishi looked at the woman before him, his love, with hope and a bit of fear in his eyes. He was sweating all over and the pounding of his heart was so loud that he was afraid that it would overpower Kaoru's own voice. What if he wouldn't even able to hear her answer?, he thought with a feeling of dread.

He remembered back to the first time he had seen Kaoru. Although it was not a pleasant experience, he still was glad that it had happened. Back then, Enishi was in a depressed state for years. His favorite cousin, Tomoe, had died after giving birth to a baby girl. The fact alone had put Enishi into an almost crazed state. How could God take away someone that meant so much to him. He was even going to go visit Tomoe after she had her child. How could she . . how could she . .

_Flashback – 2 Years Ago_

"Yukishiro-san, are you paying attention to me?!" the girl said with narrowed auburn eyes. Enishi looked over towards the woman beside him with an air of indifference. 

"Why should I have to give any attention to a worthless woman such as you?" he said without blinking behind his dark glasses. They continued to walk down the damp, dark street with only a few streetlights lighting up the area. The woman looked over at the man she was with and frowned lightly. She was sincerely turned off by his cold and standoffish nature, but she would deal with it because it was not the man she was attracted to, but his money. 

She gave a fake smile towards the man and chuckled. "Oh Enishi . . you are such a joker," she said flirtatiously with a wave of her hand.

Enishi's mouth twitched into a small snarl. He didn't know why he had gone out with another woman. They only made him much more angry. No one could compare to her.

Tomoe.

Tomoe, whom he had spent a lot of time with when they were young. She was always so kind, so forgiving, so patient, so . . so many things that . . Enishi clenched his fists. It had already been six long years since her death. Even though time had gone on, the pain of it all didn't decrease. He hadn't brought himself to visit the man she had married or the child she had borne that day. He was afraid that he would break down once he would see them. 

"YOU CAN'T HAVE HIM! LET GO!" Someone yelled in a high pitch around the alleyway.

Enishi's eyes registered alarm and looked towards where the voice had come from. He tried to shrug it off because . . because it was unlike him to help someone who was in distress. The woman that had accompanied him now clung desperately to his muscled arm. He looked at her with distaste. _What a worthless woman,_ he thought as he roughly shrugged her away.

Muffled noises and struggling was now heard.

Enishi felt himself grimace at the noises and began running over to where the commotion was coming from.

"Where – where are you going?! You can't just leave me here alone!! I might get mugged, rap - - " the woman called in a shrilly voice from behind him.

Enishi ignored her as he continued to run towards the dark alleyway.

Two figures stood in the dark. One of the figures, the slimmer one, was grabbing, pulling, and kicking with all of her strength but to no avail. The big, burly man had held on with his hands grasped around her neck. 

Enishi's turquoise eyes flared at the sight. How dare he hurt a woman! He ran over and punched the man square in the jaw. The attacker's eyes had gone wide with surprise for he had not heard the other man running towards him.

The girl crumbled onto the cement floor once the man's hands were released and had begun coughing violently as she struggled to breathe normally. Enishi's eyes narrowed as she strolled over to the man who had beaten the woman. 

The attacker got up and snarled. "You'll pay for that you bastard!" he said as he cracked both of his knuckles.

Enishi laughed as he adjusted his glasses. Now anyone else would have cowered in fear if they had seen whom Enishi had been fighting. And to anyone else it would have seemed obvious that the attacker would win easily. The attacker was two times the size in muscle as Enishi and hairy all over. But this was Enishi and he was different.

With a yell, the attacker charged with his arms and fists ready to pummel the life out of the man who dared intrude on his work. Enishi smirked as he waited for the man to throw a punch. 

The attacker's fist went for Enishi's face and without breaking a sweat, Enishi blocked it effortlessly. More punches were thrown, and the silver-haired man had dodged and blocked each and every one. The woman watched in awe at the sheer display of fluidity in each of the man's moves. It was captivating. The man had remained cool throughout the entire brawl and had not yet made an attempt to hit the attacker.

"This is going to fucking stop right here," the man said with a snarl as he stepped back and took out the small pistol that he had hid behind his belt.

The woman's eyes widened as she quickly got up. She couldn't have the person who had helped her die here. She stumbled over to get in front of the man who had come to save her.

Enishi's eyes widened at the woman's courage or rather, stupidity. 

_BANG_

He quickly pushed her aside as the bullet slightly grazed his right cheek and swiftly ran over to the man holding the weapon. Before the attacker could blink, Enishi was by his side with his hand over the man's wrists. He widened his eyes as he heard a sickening crunch.

"AAAAHHH!!" the attacker screamed. 

His wrist was now shattered. He crumbled to the floor from the pain. Enishi moved quickly and disarmed the gun from the man and pointed it at him directly in his face.

The attacker looked up with eyes full of fear. "P-please, don't shoot! Don't shoot! I don't want to die now," he pleaded, tears streaming down his face.

Enishi cocked the gun.

He aimed.

And . .

The woman moved in front of the line of fire in a flash.

His narrowed turquoise eyes looked at her in astonishment and awe. The little streams of light that poured from the streetlamps highlighted her face and for the first time he noticed just how beautiful she was. He ignored it as he tightened his grip around the gun and focused his eyes back on the man lying on the ground behind her. "Why are you protecting him?" he pointedly asked. "He was going to kill you. Let me kill him like the dog he is."

The woman shook her head. Her sapphire blue eyes staring at him with no fear, no hesitation, only a sense of determination. "I can't let you kill him. We don't have the right to judge who lives and who dies. Only God does," she said in a firm voice as she watched him steadily.

Enishi held the gun shakily, but didn't lower it. "But sometimes .. sometimes God takes away people who don't deserve to die and sometimes God leaves those people who have committed so many crimes alive. Where . . where is the justice in that?!?!" he asked crazily with his killing intent renewed. He straightened his stance as his finger continued to stay on the trigger.

The woman stood there with her arms outstretched unmoving, unflinching. "Maybe . . maybe God wants those who we love to be with him . .up there .. in heaven. That doesn't mean  .. that doesn't mean .. that they're not with us anymore. They watch over us. . up there." She said as she looked up at the twinkling stars in the night sky. She looked back down towards Enishi. "And those . . those people who have committed crimes . . maybe God wants them to find themselves again while on Earth, find a way to repent for their crimes."

Enishi stood there in awe at the woman with blue eyes before him. _Tomoe.. could she still watch over me?_, he thought. _If . . that's true . . _he lowered the gun as tears started to fill up in his eyes. _If that's true . . she might not be happy with the way I've been living my life._

_*CLANG_

The gun was dropped onto the cold, hard cement as the man's hand lost its strength. The woman lowered her arms as she walked towards the white-haired man.

"Thank you," she said.

He looked up surprised. Her blue eyes reflected his own turquoise eyes.

"Thank you," she repeated, "for saving me . . and for not killing him." Enishi held his breath as he found that her sapphire blue eyes were captivating. And he continued to stare like that for a few moments more until he felt something brushing against his right cheek lightly.

Enishi flinched and backed away on instinct.

The woman narrowed her eyes. "You're bleeding," she said. Enishi's eyes widened as his hand went up to touch the thin line of blood streaming from his cheek. "Mou! Don't do that! You might get it infected!" she said with discontent while pulling his hand back down before he could touch his wound. As he felt the tissue touch his cheek, he felt his heart skip a beat. The warmth from her hand felt comforting and reassuring. Enishi looked at her in awe as she concentrated on cleaning the blood from off of his cheek with a tissue. 

The way her blue eyes were narrowed in determination, the way her forehead crinkled up as she dabbed the tissue over his cheek, the way she would stand on her toes to clean the wound for him because he was much taller than her, and the way she would lick the corner of her lips when she finished the job. These were all things he had never taken notice of ever in his entire life.

That is, until now.

He watched her and for the first time in a long time, his heart warmed.

"Okay, done!" she said as she cleaned up the wound. Enishi found that he missed the warmth of her hand as it left his cheek. "Thank you again," she said as she gave a small bow. She turned around and started to walk back towards the street.

Enishi was speechless as she started to walk away. Something had told him to call out to her. 

"WAIT!" he yelled out.

The woman turned around.

"What . . What is your name?" he asked.

"Kaoru .. Kamiya Kaoru," she said with a kind smile.

Enishi watched as her figure disappeared into the night and repeated in a whisper, "Kamiya Kaoru. I won't forget that name."

Afterwards, Enishi took the attacker to the police station. The attacker cried silently to himself as he was led away by the authorities. But Enishi realized that those tears were not of a man who was being led to prison, but of a man who had discovered how wrong a path he had led in his life and how he was going to change it. How he was going to redeem himself in this life once again.

The next week passed without much event. Enishi could not get his mind off of the woman and those words she had  said when he had "rescued" her that night. He laughed to himself. _It feels good to laugh again_, he thought. But that night .. it was more like Kaoru had rescued him. He smiled. He needed to find her once again. He had asked his secretary to find out where Kamiya Kaoru resided.

It was a surprise to him to learn that she was the shihondai of a dojo near the outskirts of the city.

That day when he went to visit her was one of the most nervous times Enishi had ever been in his life. He had walked to the gates of the dojo with his hands shoved into his pockets and his breathing irregular. Where was his cool? His calm demeanor? 

They were all thrown out the window. Instead, he felt like a teenage boy going out on his first date. _But, _he laughed to himself, _she doesn't even know my name yet. _His palms felt sweaty as he rang the doorbell. After a few moments of waiting, the door opened up.

Inside was the woman he had met that other night. She was wearing, what seemed to be her training gi and hakama. Her hair was tied back in a high ponytail as she looked at him with recognition and shock.

"A . .ano . .," she started nervously. 

Enishi's throat felt dry as he continued to watch her. _What am I going to say?_, he asked himself. After a couple more seconds of brainstorming about how he was going to explain for him being at her doorsteps, he said, "Umm ...I just wanted to see how you were doing. The man that . . the man from the other night .. well, he's locked away in jail."

Kaoru nodded her head as she smiled and bowed again. "Ano . .thank you again for the other night."

Enishi scratched the back of his head as he continued to look at her.

Kaoru looked down on the ground, a bit nervous from the attention she was getting from the man at her front door. Her cheeks began to feel warm and she knew that she was blushing. She looked back up at him with a start, "Oh! Where are my manners? Please come in!"

Enishi nodded as he walked into the dojo. His heart fluttered when he remembered the way she had blushed while he watched her. She looked adorable.

When they came towards the couch, Kaoru motioned for him to sit down while she went to get some tea for the both of them. The first couple of minutes between them passed by rather awkwardly. The both of them couldn't seem to find a place to start the conversation.

Enishi looked up from the tea and asked, "Who was the man that had attacked you that night?"

Kaoru looked down and began to fiddle with the cup and replied, "Well, he works for a local gang around this area. A week ago there was this young boy who used to work with them by pick-pocketing for them to pay back a so-called loan. They would beat him when he didn't steal any money." She paused and took a breath to calm down her anger at the memory and then began again, "I ended up going over there to help him. I couldn't just stand by." As she said this she grasped her cup more tightly and her eyes had narrowed.

Enishi watched with interest at the emotions playing around the woman's face. Then the woman continued, "The man that you saw yesterday . . he came because he wanted Yahiko back. But . .but they can't have him," she said with determination.

"Yahiko?" Enishi asked.

Kaoru nodded. "He was the young boy that was working for them. He's only ten."

"Where is the boy now?"

"He's living with me," she said.

"He's what?" he asked with surprise.

"He's living with me," she stated again.

"Hey busu! I thought we were going to do some more training!" someone yelled from within. Enishi looked startled as he looked for where the voice had come from as he put the tea down onto the table. 

A young boy with spiky hair wearing a yellow and green gi and hakama trudged into the area carrying a bokken in one of his hands.

"I have a guest. We'll practice later," Kaoru said as she shot Yahiko a dirty look.

"Yahiko?" Enishi asked while pointing to the young boy. Kaoru nodded. Enishi was confused. _How can that boy show so little respect to the woman who had rescued him? _

"I'm going back," he said with a huff as he turned around to walk back towards the practice room.

"One hundred strokes, Yahiko-CHAN for calling me names in front of guests!" Kaoru added as he left.

Yahiko turned back and shot a look. "I'm not a kid!" he cried out with frustration. Kaoru laughed jubilantly. Enishi looked at the two and finally understood why the little kid teased the woman so much. He was treating her like an older sister. The man smiled wistfully.

"I'm sorry," Kaoru started as the man turned to face her once again. "I don't know your name."

The white-haired man smiled, "Yukishiro Enishi."

Kaoru nodded and smiled. "I'm sorry about the disturbance, Yukishiro-san. That's Yahiko for you though. He's always so loud and doesn't have the least of manners," she said with a gentle smile. 

"Enishi. Just call me Enishi," he said firmly as he looked into her deep blue orbs.

"Enishi?" she said as she tested saying his name. Enishi smiled. He liked the way she said his name. "Okay," she said, "Then just call me Kaoru." 

"Kaoru . ." he started. "Kaoru .. thank you for that night. If it wasn't for you . ." Enishi clasped his hands in front of him tightly as he bowed his head down out of shame, "I would have killed that man."

The woman looked at him with compassion and placed a hand over his. "Well, it was a good thing you were there, too," she added with a smile and a wink.

The man looked up and found her smiling face. His heart warmed at the sight. 

"Mou! The tea is getting cold and you haven't even taken a sip yet!" Kaoru said while pointing to the full cup of tea on the table. Enishi nodded as he took hold of the cup and raised it to his mouth.

He took a sip.

"It tastes bad."

_End Flashback_

It had been two years since that day. There before him was the same woman who had pulled him out of his depressed and crazed state since Tomoe's death. Kaoru was his answer. 

Enishi drew in his breath as he saw her pink lips move slightly.

Time stopped.

"Yes," Kaoru said. "Yes," she repeated this time in a voice lower than a whisper. It was time to forget him. 

Kenshin.

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- To be continued (_Sigh . .Enishi .. )_

**Author's Notes:**

Please read and review! Thanks much. I always like getting comments and feedback from my readers. Thank you to those who have taken the time to review. I really appreciate them!

Anyway, sigh . .I love Enishi. =P It'll probably be awhile until I update again. =) Hiko .. eheheh

_Reader Responses_: 

**Jacky** – Hi. Lol .. I liked your review. "3 more chapters until I start whining for another update!" Lol . ^_^ Thanks

**Tenshi no Sin** – Hihi! =D Hehe .. thanks for the review!  

**Nigihayami Haruko ** - Thanks for the comments. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

**Tsukasa Ryuu** – I'm glad you like the story. It's difficult when you fall in love with one of your best friends cuz on one hand, you want to take the relationship further and on the other hand, you don't want to ruin the relationship that you already have. But it's good that you had told her your feelings .. at least you know that you told her how you felt which is better than keeping it bottled up. =) if you wanted to read another friendship love fic you should read dementedchris's fic.. "defying gravity". Warning: it's a real tearjerker. 

**MissBehavin** – Thanks =D Hehe. .I play the word association game with my roommates and boyfriend all the time whenever there's nothing to do .. and for some reason .. our game always turns .. quite .. explicit .lol..

**OniTokage** – Thanks for the comments. As for your question about your fic, yeah .. at first chapter 13 wasn't showing up . .but it is now. =D And as for the other question :yes, I mentioned before that I always liked fics where Kenshin and Kaoru meet up again. =) Sigh .. I'm such a romantic sometimes. Hehe. .

**Tenkuno Meiou** – Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoy the story so far.

**Koishii Sweet** – Hi. Thanks for the comments. I hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Gaby(hyatt** – Thanks for reviewing! I love Kaoru and Enishi pairings too. ^_^ hehe. I think he's such a cool character. I love him in deleria's fic "Catharsis". Have you read that?

**Wistful-Eyes** – Hello. Yeah, I'm Chinese too. I can speak and write some (thanks to Chinese school and my grandma) hehe .. Anyway, I know what you mean about Enishi and how he had acted during Jinchuu. Eek. I think I got this idea of Enishi from some other fics .. some by Gracey and such. 

**Clemen** – I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I was going to update yesterday, but ff.net was down. Ack .. Hehe .. =) 

**CrismHeart** – I'm glad you enjoy reading the stories I have up on ff.net =) *author blushes. Good luck with ur exams. I have a Biochem exam coming up =D .. it'll be cute when Kaoru finds Kaoru again. =D Hehe.

**Rurounimadness** – you were right on the dot. Of course Kaoru will have to say yes to the engagement. =D Hehe. 

**CurlsofSerenity** – Hello. Thanks for the review! Yup yup .. chibi Kaoru has a big mission laid out for her. She'll get help from someone though .. whom you'll meet up in the next chapter.

**JulesV** – Thanks for the comments and reviewing all the chapters. I really appreciated it.

**Serenity Blossom** – I'm glad you liked the "proposal" part. I thought it would be like Kaoru (kinda) to do something like that. Anyway, whether or not it'll stay E/K .. you'll have to find out in later chapters. 

**Rekka's Angel** – Hehe . .things will start to heat up once Kenshin returns to the picture! =D you can be sure of it.

**Chibi frog** – thanks

**Issina** – Hihi! Yay .. I'm glad you're gonna go look for the movie. =D It's such a great movie! Lol . . I'm a big fan .. I'm sure noticed already. The movie was a big cryfest for me too in the beginning .. sniff sniff .. I still tear up when I watch it now. =D I'm sure you'll love it after watching it. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. =D

**Oyuki** – Ooh . .so you live in LA too? Cool .. I haven't gone to the "stinking rose" to eat yet .. are the prices decent or incredibly expensive like $50 a dish? Haha . .I don't know . .=/ .. Hmm .. the names he makes up for these restaurants are incredibly unappealing =x .. =D but anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

**Moderndaybattousai** – Hello. Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the both of my stories! I can't wait to read your own! 

**Anime_Freakness** – Hi. Thanks for reviewing! =D I'm glad you like this fic so far. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

**Peorthkitty** – thanks for the comments. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story!


	9. The Other Side

**Disclaimer: **Rurouni Kenshin belongs to Nobuhiro Watsuki and Kuch Kuch Hota Hai belongs to Yash Raj films and was directed by Karan Johar.

**Special Thanks to drpepper4u for adding me to your Favorite Author's List!**

**Warning: Characters are a bit OOC.**

**~ WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES ~**

Chapter 9 

**The Other Side**

_The Following Week_

"Kaoru, you don't know how happy am I to learn that you're finally getting married!" Hana said with a big grin on her face. (A/N: Hana is Dr. Genzai's sister).

The raven-haired girl forced a small smile on her face. Her grandmother didn't notice the tense muscles and embraced her tightly.  A few tears came to Hana's eyes at the thought that Kaoru was finally, finally getting married. 

Yahiko watched the scene from the opposite side of Kaoru and Hana with a concentrated face. He had noticed his sensei's look. _What's wrong with Kaoru? I thought the old hag would be happy, _he thought to himself. _Enishi's a nice guy. And he's one of the only guys who would support Kaoru to continue to teach kendo._ Yahiko sighed. He probably was just imagining things he reassured himself.

"So when is the wedding?" Hana asked with excitement laced over each word.

Kaoru looked up with as she mustered up another smile. "It's the month after the summer kendo classes are over."

Hana smiled brightly. "Great! That's only four or five months from now. Where is the lucky man?" 

"He has a business meeting in Kyoto this weekend and has to go out of country for the entire summer for his silk trading business."

Hana frowned. "I see. That's too bad. I was hoping that he would come over for dinner sometime so I could congratulate the two of you."

Kaoru nodded and gave another big smile. 

Yahiko studied his sensei solemnly. _Her smile seems too distant. I'm not imagining things. Kaoru isn't happy_, he thought with worry. 

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_Tokyo_

"How long are you going to be gone, tou-san?" Kaoru-chan asked as she looked up from her dinner plate.

"For two or three days," he replied as he took another sip of his miso soup. "I'll only be in Kyoto and I'll have my cell phone on me at all times. You can call me anytime, Kaoru-chan."

"Oh. Okay," Kaoru replied as she began to pick at the green peas with a fork. "I'm going to miss you," she said longingly.

Kenshin looked up at his daughter and smiled. "I'll miss you too."

"Ano .. who did you call earlier?"

"Oh I was calling to find someone to watch after you the next couple of days," Kenshin said as he took a sip of water.

"I hope you didn't call Uncle Aoshi again. He doesn't talk much at all!" she replied and then crossed her arms. 

Her father chuckled. "No, it's not Aoshi."

"Is it Auntie Misao? I like her a lot. I liked watching her kids. Did you know that Aunt Misao said that I can help baby-sit them whenever I have time?"

"No .. no, it's not her."

"Then who?"

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_The next morning_

"Just remember that I'm not your on-call nanny baka deshi!" Hiko berated as he came in. His figure loomed over that of Kenshin's small stature.

"Maa maa. . shishou." Kenshin said with his hands in a pleading gesture. 

"Just because I'm a potter doesn't mean that I don't lead a busy life." Hiko pointed an index finger at him and shook it sternly. "You better know how big a favor this is that I'm doing for you." 

Kenshin smiled a little too brightly at those words. "Haha," he chuckled uncomfortably, "of course I know." He rubbed the back of his head with his hands.

"You owe me sake for a month," he said. Then paused as he rubbed the bottom of his chin in deep thought, "Better yet make that three months."

Kenshin sweatdropped. "Hai hai." He bent down to grab his suitcase that was by the door. Kaoru-chan stood beside him and gave him a tight hug.

"Take care, otousan! I love you!" Kaoru said in a muffled voice for her face was in her dad's shoulder.

"I love you too Kaoru!" Kenshin replied with a smile.

He began to walk out the door and then turned back to face Hiko. "Ano . .shishou. . make sure Kaoru goes to bed by .."

Hiko's eyes narrowed. The thing he hated most was people giving him orders, especially his own student. Before Kenshin could say anymore, Hiko bellowed, "Be quiet baka deshi. I know how to take care of kids. I raised you, didn't I?"

Kenshin smiled sheepishly as he nodded. "Hai hai. Bye Shishou!"

Kaoru giggled. The only person who could intimidate her father was her Uncle Hiko and he did a good job of it. 

Kenshin made a face as he looked at his daughter, "You're not taking sides with him are you?"

Kaoru nodded and put her arms around Hiko's waist telling her father that she was on her uncle's side. Kenshin sweatdropped and shook his head. _Maa maa, I shouldn't have had shishou come here so often. Even my own daughter is taking sides with him._

Hiko grinned. "Bye baka deshi."

When Kenshin had gone out of sight, the little girl quickly pulled on Hiko's hand and took him to the living room. 

"What's going on, Kaoru-chan?" he asked with an amused expression on his face.

"I missed ya Uncle Hiko!" she said as she hugged him. The tall man blushed out of warmth.

"I missed you too Kaoru-chan," he replied and patted her gently on the head.

"I have so much to tell you!" she said as she jumped up and down. Hiko's eyes widened with curiosity.

"Oh? What happened? Is it something to do with my baka-deshi?"

She tapped the bottom of her chin in a very grown up fashion. Hiko laughed amusedly, it was the same thing that Kenshin would do at times when he was thinking of something complicated. "Yes and no."

"Hmm .. yes and no?"

The little girl nodded. "It's about Kamiya Kaoru."

Hiko's lips upturned into a grin as he rubbed the bottom of his chin. "Kamiya Kaoru, eh? I remember her. She used to come over to my apartment all the time to see my baka deshi. I never knew what she saw in him."

Kaoru playfully punched Hiko's arm.

"Uncle Hiko. I'm being serious here!" she said as she stood up swiftly with her hands on her hips.

"Haha. Okay okay. Sit down Kaoru-chan and tell me everything."

Kaoru smiled triumphantly as she sat back down. "Okay . .well, it started out with . ."

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_In the Kamiya Dojo_

Kaoru walked around with a feather duster in hand screening the dojo. The summer camp was going to start in a little over a week and she wanted to make sure that everything would be in top-notch condition. She didn't want to stop to think because whenever she did, all she could remember was the fact that she was going to get married in a few months.

Mrs. Yukishiro Kaoru, she thought to herself as she paused in her dusting. She quickly shook her head as she shoved the thought out of her mind and began dusting the shelves once more. 

In the earlier years, the thought of marriage had completely eluded Kaoru. She was happy with what she was doing and completely capable of handling the dojo herself. But however, as the time drew on, the girl became lonely and wanted a companion, someone she could talk to that was around her age. Her years spent with her best friend, Kenshin, had spoiled her. She liked the company he had given her and the time that he had spent with her. 

Kaoru stopped what she was doing so she could take a breath. The memory of Himura Kenshin still hurt her although the pain of it all had decreased considerably over the past years. Now it was just a dull ache. It was forgotten for most of the time, but it was forever present inside of her.

She sighed as she went back to work. An image of Enishi floated into her mind. She couldn't believe that she was actually getting married to him. Kaoru knew that she should feel happy for somewhere within her heart, she had feelings for the man, although they weren't that of love. She remembered the first time Enishi had confessed to her that he loved her. _I wasn't able to tell him that I loved him back, _she thought and then added with a frown, _I still can't tell him that now._

_Achoo!_

The girl sneezed from the dust that had fallen from the shelf. She quickly rubbed her nose and decided that it would be enough dusting for the time being. Then she went to the kitchen to grab a washcloth in order to scrub the floors. When she came back, she went down on her knees to begin the scrubbing with the bucket right by her side.

Even when she was hard at work, her thoughts strayed to her long lost best friend. She wondered how he was doing, how his wife was doing, whether or not he had any children. Kaoru smiled a bit at the thought of Kenshin's children. _I wonder if they have red hair like his, _she thought. She shook her head as she urged herself not to think of him anymore.

_It was a long time ago._

_It's over now._

Her thoughts then turned back to Enishi. Her fiancé. He was a great man. Wealthy, good-looking, compassionate, considerate, knew martial arts, and was a good friend to her over the years. She smiled a bit. _Even Yahiko likes him_. She paused in her work as she let herself drift off into her own thoughts. Kaoru sighed. _What's wrong with me? I should feel like the luckiest girl in the world to get married to someone like Enishi. Why do I still feel like this? _She curled up her fists into a ball as she furrowed her eyebrows. _Don't I love Enishi? _Wetness began to form around her eyes and her throat began to feel dry. She took a steady breath as she gently closed her eyes.

_Enishi has been wonderful to me for the past year. In fact, he's like a best friend .. that is second to him. _She sighed as her thoughts reverted back to Kenshin. _Mou! Kaoru_, she berated herself, _you have to get over him. It's been so long. Plus ..  plus .. I'm engaged to Enishi now._

_I should love him._

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_Next Day_

"Kaoru-chan!" Hiko called from the bottom of the stairs.

"Hai!" the little girl replied as she bounced down their carpeted stairs with a bright smile on her face. 

"Are you ready to go?" he asked.

"Yes, I haven't seen Genzai-sensei in a long time," she said, her lavender eyes twinkling with excitement at the prospect of seeing Kaoru's grandfather. She had visited him a long time ago when she was around four or five. Her father had gone to see him when she had gotten sick. Because of the herbal medicine that he had prescribed to her, Kaoru had gotten better by the next day. She also remembered his smiling face the whole time he was treating her.

Hiko walked towards the door and pulled a light blue jacket off of the hanger for Kaoru to wear. "It's a bit cold outside, so make sure you wear this," he said.

The young girl nodded as she stretched her arms out so that Hiko could help her put her jacket on.

"Uncle Hiko?" she asked as she looked over her shoulder at the tall man next to her.

"Hai?" he replied as he straightened out the jacket collar with a determined expression on his visage.

Kaoru chuckled a little under her breath. Her uncle was very caring and a softie underneath all of that macho-ness he displayed in front of others. She liked the fact that her uncle could show this side of him to her. "Ano . . do you think that Genzai-sensei will tell us about Kamiya Kaoru's whereabouts now?"

The tall, muscular man stretched out as he got his keys ready to leave. "Hmm, we'll find out when we get there," he said as he pulled his white mantle over his shoulders.

"Okay," she said with a smile.

_I'll find you Kaoru and I'll reunite you with my father, _she said in her thoughts with utmost determination as she walked out the door. 

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- To be continued

**Author's Notes:**

Please read and review! Thanks much! Sorry this chapter took so long to write! I had fun with the Hiko and Kaoru conversations though. I always thought that he was a softie at heart. ^_^ Hehe .. I'm gonna have lots more fun with him in the later chapters. Anyway, hope you have a great week! Hopefully it won't take as long for me to come out with the next chapter, but I have another midterm coming up soon. =/ sigh .. 

_Reader Responses_:

**Koishii sweet** – Hehe .. yeah, Enishi isn't a freak in this fic. =P 

**Missbehavin** – =) I'm glad you like the Kaoru/Enishi scenes. ^_^ Yeah, it's sad that Kenshin is re-entering into the scene. As for how Enishi will react .. hmm . .like any other man in this sort of situation. ^_^

**OniTokage** – Hihi! Sorry about putting you through that with "A Memory Forgotten". FF.net was really messing up for me for some reason when I posted this time. Sigh .. well, anyway .. I'm glad you enjoy this story as well.

**Moderndaybattousai** – Hi hi. Thanks for the review! Congrats with ur fic!

**Nigihayami Haruko** – Sniff .. I agree that Enishi deserves happiness too .. Although . . hmm .. k/k or e/k .. if you've seen the movie . .you'll know who she ends up with. =D I'm glad you like the story so far.

**Ryoga** – Thanks .. I like Enishi also.

**CrismHeart** – Your comments made me blush! Thank you! =) Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Yes, there will be some K/K interaction coming up soon.

**Julia** – Thanks for reviewing! Hope you enjoyed the chapter.

**CurlsofSerenity** – Hi! Hehe. . chibi Kaoru is working really hard to find Kaoru with help from Hiko! =) Hehe . . Aoshi and Misao . .hm m. .you'll learn about them in the later chapter.

**TenkunoMeiou** - =) Yay .. I'm glad you're rooting for both E/K and K/K. ^_^ Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter!

**Intuition** – Hello! Another "KKHH" fan! =) Hehe .. I'm glad you like the story so far and noticed the little spiff that I did on Anjali and Rahul. I thought the movie was so great so I wanted to make a fic out of it. Hopefully by the end, it'll seem just as good. =/ .. 

**Saotome** – thanks thanks

**Oyuki** – Hi. I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! Thanks for reviewing! Belly dancing classes? Ooh . .how is that?

**Wistful-Eyes** – Hello. Thanks for the review. Little Kaoru has help from Hiko to find Kaoru! =D Hehe .. I like writing the Hiko and Kaoru interactions.

**Gaby(hyat**t– Hello. Yes, Kaoru should forget Kenshin . . but it's hard I guess since she knew him all her life. Anyway, thanks for reading and reviewing! I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Oh the author of "catharsis" is deleria. She is a great author!

**Shermaine, anna, spike-person** – thanks for the review!

**Serenity Blossom** – Thanks for the comments! I hope you enjoyed the chapter.

**Tsukasa Ryuu** – Sorry for the long wait before updating! I hope you enjoyed this chapter nevertheless.

**May** – I'm glad you liked my portrayal of Tomoe in this fic. I don't like how authors sometimes make Tomoe out as a bad guy because she isn't. =/ Anyway, as for what happened to Aoshi and Misao .. you'll find out later. =)

**Mz.Amber Eyez** – Hihi! Thanks for the review! =D Yep, Kenshin does love Kaoru . .and as I've said before .. I think K/K are soulmates .. and Akira/Tomoe are soulmates.

**Rurouni madness** – Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you liked how I portrayed Enishi. I just thought he was lost in the actual manga .. so taking that into consideration .. without those awful things happening in front of him like in the manga, I think Enishi would've turned out as a pretty nice, normal guy that is .. to people that he likes.

**Babo-chan** –hihi! I haven't seen you online in a long time! No wonder .. hehe thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you enjoy the story!

**Sonia** – hi. *blushes .. better than the movie? Aww ..  =) thanks! Hehe .. I try hard .. Hopefully the rest will turn out pretty good. ^_^


	10. The Day Hiko was Defeated

**Disclaimer: **"Rurouni Kenshin" and "Kuch Kuch Hota Hai" do not belong to me. 

**Author's Notes: **Sorry this chapter took so long to get out. I had most of the chapter written up, but it was deleted on accident! =( Sigh…so I had to start from scratch.

**Information about Characters:**

Kenshin – 31

Kaoru – 30

Enishi – 31

Yahiko –12

Yutaro – 12

Kaoru-chan – 8

Hiko – never ages ;P heheh

WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES 

**Chapter 10**

**The Day Hiko was Defeated**

Knock Knock 

Kaoru stood outside of the door and heard a small pitter-patter of feet from behind.

"Ojisan! Ojisan! There's someone at the door!" a young voice called from within. 

A few more shuffling sounds were made before the metal click of the lock resounded and opened up. Kaoru and Hiko stood in front expectantly waiting to see an old man of medium height. Instead, their attention was diverted to two girls who were smaller in size than Kaoru herself. The youngest one was standing behind the taller one and sucking on her thumb diligently with her eyes only somewhat visible underneath the brown bangs.

"Hello!" the little girl said brightly. "I'm Ayame! Oji-san is in the back."

". . in the back," the younger girl who was behind the older one repeated.

".. and this is Suzume," Ayame said while putting an arm over her young sister's shoulders and nudging her forward.

"Hi!" the little girl waved with one of her chubby hands.

"Hi," the tall, muscular man said gruffly as he strode into the small building. Kaoru followed behind him with a smile and waved hello at the other girls. 

"What's your name?" Ayame asked after she closed the door.

"Kaoru," the girl said with a bright smile as she sat down in one of the chairs with her Uncle Hiko in the waiting area.

"Your name is Kaoru?" the other young girl asked with her eyebrows perked up in interest. "You have the same name as Kaoru-neechan!"

"Kaoru-neechan!" the smaller girl repeated enthusiastically.

Kaoru looked between the two of them and couldn't help but let out a fit of small giggles. They were just so adorable! "So you've met the other Kaoru before?"

"Of course! We go there sometimes to watch her train and visit Yahiko-niichan and  go play and. ."

"Okay that's enough out of you two."

A voice broke into the room and Kaoru and Hiko's attention strayed towards the origin. 

"Oji-san! This girl's name is Kaoru also!" the little girl jumped up excitedly with her sister following in suit while pointing to Kaoru who was sitting in the chair. The old man's eyes twinkled at the sight of his young girls and nodded.

"Ayame, Suzume," the old man directed and two pairs of eyes looked up at him, stopping what they were doing. "Could you girls go outside in the family room to play while I talk to Hiko-san and Kaoru?"

The little girls smiled and nodded their heads quickly as they turned back and started heading towards the living room. After they were out of sight, the old man turned towards the guests and sat across from them in the small wooden chair. A gentle smile broke out on his face as he studied the young girl's image.

"Kaoru-chan, you've grown up so much since I've last seen you," he said warmly.

The girl shifted in her seat to sit up straighter as she smiled brightly at his words. "Thank you."

Then Dr. Genzai turned his attention to the other man. "And you Hiko-san, have not aged a bit since we last met."

The gigantic man smirked and nodded. "And you, Dr. Genzai, look not a day over forty."

The old man laughed heartily at the other man's words. "You've always been quite the joker, Hiko-san." The other man laughed with the elder before asking another question. 

"How is your retirement coming along?"

"It's going quite well. The clinic is doing fine with a few doctors and nurses working there so I'm able to enjoy the rest of my time with my two granddaughters."

"I see," Hiko said. "That's good to hear."

"I know you two didn't come to ask me about my old age now so what can I help you with?"

Kaoru's head perked up at his question and looked at him expectantly. "Ano .. ano .. I was wondering if you could tell me where Kamiya Kaoru is?"

The old man's eyes widened in surprise. He had never expected that Kenshin's own daughter would be asking for Kaoru's address. When Kaoru had first left Tokyo, Kenshin had constantly come over to Dr. Genzai's practice asking and practically begging for the old man to reveal to him Kaoru's whereabouts. He had never given into telling the poor boy because Kaoru had him promise her not to say anything. 

"Dr. Genzai?"

The old man blinked his eyes as he came out of his thoughts. "Hai?"

"Suzume and Ayame had said that they visit Kaoru sometimes. So . . could you tell me where she is?" the girl asked in an almost pleading tone.

Dr. Genzai looked down and fumbled with his fingers as he shifted uncomfortably in the chair. After a few moments of silence, the old man finally looked back up at the girl.

"Okay," he started. "I'll tell you." His eyes began to fill up with moisture as he recounted what had happened in Kaoru's life since leaving Tokyo. Hiko and the young girl listened attentively to every word that the old man had said. It was the last few words that left them both in shock.

"Kaoru's engaged now to a man named Yukishiro Enishi."

"What?!" Hiko exclaimed aloud. "The girl's engaged?"

"Yes," the doctor affirmed.

"Then what are we wasting our time here for? Let's go back Kaoru-chan. It's too late." Hiko began to get out of his chair and take Kaoru's hand, but he was shocked to see that tears were pouring from the young girl's purple eyes. "Kaoru-chan?" he asked with his voice laced with worry.

She looked up at the older man with sadness. "She can't be!! She can't be married! It was my mother's wish to bring her and my father together!"

Hiko looked at the young girl sympathetically and nodded his head. He sat back down in his chair as he looked Dr. Genzai in the eye. "So you said that they're engaged, right? Not married. When is the wedding date?"

"Four months from now after the summer camp program at her dojo," the older man said sadly.

Kaoru's ears perked up at hearing the words 'summer camp' and looked at the man across from her. "Summer camp? Where?"

"Kaoru is holding a summer camp at her dojo in Kobe for all kids around the Japan area who are interested in learning kendo. It will last about one month or so I believe."

"That's perfect!" Kaoru shouted almost jumping out of her seat.

"What's perfect?" Hiko asked with amusement at her sudden change in demeanor.

"I'm going to learn kendo!"

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_Back at the Himura Residence_

RING, RING RING 

_Click_

"Hello?"

"Otousan!"

"Aaa .. if it isn't my little traitor of a daughter, Kaoru-chan. I miss you very, very much! How's your uncle Hiko treating you?"

Kaoru giggled. Her father was making fun of her for taking Hiko's side the other day. "I miss you, too. Uncle Hiko's treating me well. Ano . . 'tousan?"

"Hai?" Kenshin asked with a warm smile on his face. Hearing his daughter's voice always brought him a sense of great warmth and peace amidst his hectic day of conferences and negotiations.

"I was wondering . .if I could . . if I could go to Kobe this summer for summer camp? I really want to learn kendo!" she said with excitement.

Kenshin frowned at hearing her words and there was a long silence. 

"No."

"But .. but. . otousan, please! Uncle Hiko will take me there and it will only be for a little while. I'll meet new people and make new fr- . ."

"I said 'no',"

"But . ."

"No 'buts'."

"Please otousan."

"No," her father said sternly. 

Kaoru looked at the phone in her hand dejectedly. Another voice was heard talking to her father asking him to go to some meeting. After awhile, Kenshin's voice came back clearly on the line.

"I'll see you soon Kaoru-chan and we'll discuss this at home."

"Okay," she replied.

"I love you."

"Love you too."

_Click_

Kaoru hung up the phone and looked over at her Uncle who was currently sitting on the sofa and flipping through some channels on the television. She walked over slowly to the man and plopped herself next to him.

"He said no, huh?" the older man said as he looked over at the young girl.

Kaoru nodded her head sadly.

Hiko smirked and with a wave of his hand said, "It's okay. We'll just leave my baka deshi a note before going."

The girl looked up at her uncle as a broad smile began to grace her features. "Really?? Oh! That's a great plan!" she exclaimed with excitement as she clasped her hands together.

"_Now .. there's only the problem of who's going to sign me up_," she thought as she looked slyly over at her uncle.

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Yahiko watched Kaoru throughout the day, still unsure of what to say to her. He knew what he saw and what he saw that day showed that Kaoru was not happy. _Did she not love Enishi?_, he thought in wonder. _But if she doesn't . . why would she agree to marry him?_

He clenched his hands as he paused in his cleaning. _I've got to find out, _he thought in determination. He looked up at the young woman who was currently doing some finances for the dojo. "Kaoru ," he addressed.

The woman paused and looked up from her work. "Hai, Yahiko?"

The boy took a few steps towards her desk with the broom still in his hand. "Kaoru .. are you happy?"

The girl's eyes widened as her lips turned slightly into a frown. "What . .what do you mean?"

"With Enishi. Are you happy with Enishi?" he asked in a stern tone.

The girl fidgeted with her pen as she looked down at the paper once again. She then brushed her hair back behind her ear as she let out a nervous chuckle, habits of hers that the boy knew she used when she was uncomfortable. "Why . . of course I'm happy, Yahiko."

She paused as she stood up and began walking to the other side of the room. With each step she took, the fact that Kaoru was not happy was further instilled into the young boy's mind. 

"Enishi . . he's a great guy. He's intelligent, strong, nice, and loves me very much." She spun around and then looked at Yahiko with a big smile. "Of course I'm happy."

Yahiko looked at the girl with a solemn face overshadowing his eyes. "But Kaoru . . do you love him?"

Do I love him? 

Kaoru's sapphire blue eyes began to tear up as she heard those words tumble out of Yahiko's lips. "I . ," she started. The words caught in her throat and an overwhelming feeling of sadness began to spill over her. "I . ." Kaoru began sniffling as her vision became blurry from tears threatening to come out. All that hidden emotion had taken surface with Yahiko's few words. 

The truth was that Kaoru had loved once.

And she had not yet fully recovered from it.

She then felt two strong arms grab onto her waist. Blinking back tears, she looked down and saw Yahiko holding onto her tightly.

"I .. I .. understand," he said as he choked back some tears.

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"How about you take me to Kobe and register me in her Summer Camp, Uncle Hiko?"

"She'll recognize me," he said.

Kaoru-chan furrowed her brows as she went into her "thinking mode" with her forefinger tapping on her bottom lip. After a few minutes of pondering, a light bulb went off in her head.

"I got it!" she exclaimed with excitement.

Hiko looked over her with a queer expression on his face. _I wonder what the little kid has thought up now_, he thought with amusement as he looked away from the newspaper.

"What have you got, Kaoru?" he asked with a sidelong glance at her.

The little girl looked over at her uncle, a grin quickly widening as she watched him. Hiko grew a bit uncomfortable in his leather chair as he watched the devilish grin. The man loosened his collar a bit as he asked again for the girl had not responded with words yet.

"Just what are you planning, girl?"

Kaoru gave a slight chuckle. She knew that her uncle was a bit nervous because he had addressed her as "girl". She quickly pranced over to his large figure and asked him to bend his head a little so she could tell him. As she began whispering the details to the older man, his knuckles went white and his eyes widened to ten times their size.

"You got it, Uncle Hiko?" she asked as she finished.

The man didn't respond.

His face had completely blanched.

"Uncle Hiko?" she asked while tugging him a bit by his shirtsleeve.

He slowly turned his head to look over at her, his face registering just a bit of fear.

"So will you do it?" she asked with a hopeful smile on her innocent (or not so innocent) face.

The man's eyes widened. "You – you're asking me, Hiko Seijuurou the 13th successor to Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu and famous potter to do . . to . ." the man couldn't even finish the phrase for his throat had become parched from just the idea of what her plan included.

"To dress up as a woman," she finished with a smile on her face.

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- To be continued

**Author's Notes:**

Please read and review! Thanks much! Hope you guys have a great weekend! =D

Reader Responses:

**Koishii Sweet** – thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story!

**Gypsy-chan** – Hello! Yeah, it's Hiko. ^_^ Hehe .. he's such a fun character to poke fun at. Anyway, Kenshin will meet up with Kaoru sometime in the future. You can expect things to heat up from there. ^_^

**Rekka's Angel** – Hello. Yup yup Kenshin will meet up with Kaoru in the near future thanks to Hiko and Kaoru-chan. Anyway, it'll be interesting.

**Issina** – Hi! Thanks for the review! Yeah, I teared up so much during that train scene. =*( Sniff sniff. It was so sad. Lol .. Kenshin, Kaoru and the rest of them doing dance sequences? Lol .. it must be a little awkward. Especially with Yahiko and Sanosuke. Lol .. 

**Luna-magic 2005** – Hi! Thanks for reviewing! I'm glad you like it. Sorry it's taken so long for this chapter to come out. Sigh .. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this one as well.

**Onitokage** – hello. Thanks for reviewing! I like writing about Hiko and Kaoru together. I think they're funny and adorable. Hmm .. it sounds kind of weird to use the word adorable and Hiko together. Lol .. Well, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. As for my new story, I don't think I will write that one in the near future. I thought up a different one. A sano/kaoru fic. Hehe . .=x . .it's been playing through my mind lately. ^_^

**Saotome** – thanks for the review!

**Missbehavin** – Hello! I'm glad you like Hiko in my story. ^_^ His macho-ness is always kind interesting to poke fun at. Anyway, yeah .. Yahiko has noticed and confronted Kaoru about her decision with marrying Enishi. He'll probably have some hand in hooking K/K together. =)

**TenkunoMeiou** – Kaoru-chan sounds like ur sister? Lol . . how cute! Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Deseray** – Hello! Thanks for reading my story! I'm glad you liked it. =D Anyway, your stories draw the reader in =D They're great if not better than my own. Congrats with graduating. ^_^ 

**Rurouni madness** – Hi. I'm glad you like my Hiko. Yup yup . ."my hiko" lol . . I'm just kidding. Anyway, I have fun writing and poking fun at him at times. Hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Nigihayami Haruko** – Hi! Thanks for reviewing my fic! Yeah, the movie is really great! Sigh .. some parts were really angst-ridden but enjoyable nonetheless. I'm sure you'll like it if you can find it anywhere. =D Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter.

**Gaby(hyat .** – Hi! Good question

Kenshin – 31 (has short hair)

Kaoru – 30 (long hair)

Enishi – 31

**Wistful-Eyes** – I'm glad you enjoy the Hiko-Kaoru interaction. They're adorable. Anyway, yeah. I've always seen Yahiko looking out for Kaoru as he would an older sister. =d

**Mz. Amber-Eyes** – Hi. Kenshin has always thought of Kaoru as his best friend and hadn't thought of her the other way until it was too late. He loved Tomoe also, but as I have said before. .I've always thought of Kenshin and Kaoru being soulmates .. that they were made for each other.

**Dewey** – Thanks for the review. Hehe .. Another E/K fan! =D yay =D Yeah, I enjoy a lot of E/K fics as for this one .. you'll just have to wait and see what pairing it will be.

**May** – Hi. Thanks for the review! I'm glad you like Kaoru-chan's character in this story and you find her goal interesting. =D

**Nina** – Hello. Hehe .. I like E/K also. There will be some more E/K moments in the future. 

**Crismheart** – Hello! Thanks for reviewing the story! I always enjoy reading your feedback so very much. Anyway, yeah .. hehe .. I liked making Hiko so loving of Kaoru-chan. I thought it was cute and something that was not OOC of him to be like. Anyway hope you enjoyed this chapter as well.

**Moderndaybattousai** – Hi! There'll be much more Hiko in the later chapters. Much more .. . 

**Kiwifroot** – Hi! Thanks for reviewing. No, Kaoru Himura and Kaoru Kamiya are not related at all. =D The movie was great. You should check it out if you have the time.

**Nina-san** – Wow, thanks for reviewing! I got your first review? =D *author blushes .. Thanks thanks . Anyway, Kaoru does not know that Enishi and Tomoe are cousins. She never brought up the matter that she knew someone else with his last name and he never did either. Anyway, hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. =D

**Shermaine** – Thanks for reviewing! Glad you like the story and how it's coming along.

**Spike-person** – Haha. Your reviews are so much fun to read. I liked Cowboy Bebop also.


	11. Meeting the White Tiger

**Disclaimer: **Rurouni Kenshin is the property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Sony Productions. Kuch Kuch Hota Hai is the property of Yash Raj Films.

**Author's Notes: **Sorry for the long delay before updating. Hope you guys enjoy this chapter.

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**WHEN SOMETHING CHANGES**

**Chapter 11**

**Meeting the White Tiger**

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Kenshin looked himself over in the mirror as he adjusted his maroon tie. He thought back to the conversation he had with his daughter earlier that day and felt guilty. It wasn't that she would not be able to handle kendo, it was because he didn't want her to leave him. He sighed sadly. He was too overprotective at times. But who could blame him? He was a father after all. With Tomoe gone, Kaoru was all he had left.

The man looked himself over in the mirror once more before bending down and picking up his briefcase. He smiled slightly as he straightened his jacket and walked out the bathroom door with a feeling of confidence. Kenshin walked down the hall and stopped at one of the wooden oak doors. He looked up and read the name on it ever so carefully.

Enishi Yukishiro.

He shrugged off any feeling of uncomfort and turned the gold-plated knob.

"Hi. May I help you?," the pretty secretary with glasses asked as she saw Kenshin come inside the room.

"Hi. I'm Himura Kenshin and I have an appointment with Yukishiro-san."

"Hai. You may see him in ten minutes," the secretary replied as she typed up the information onto her desktop computer.

Kenshin sat outside of the door as he waited for his appointment time with the man whom he was going to do business. It was the biggest venture yet for his company, Hiten Mitsurugi Corporation. When both his company and Yukishiro's company come together and jointly do this engineering project, China would have the bullet train as a means of transport from Beijing to Shanghai and other major cities. Because of the magnitude of this project, both companies could expect to make over a billion dollars.

"Excuse me, Himura-san," the secretary called. Kenshin looked up. "Yukishiro-san is ready to see you now."

"Thank you," the red-haired man said as he got up and brushed off any signs of lint on his suit. Holding his breath, he walked over and opened the door leading to the boss's office.

On the far side of the room, a man with darkened spectacles and silver hair sat in a large leather chair currently having a conversation on the phone. The man's sheer aura was intimidating to say the least. It was no surprise why Yukishiro was the head of the entire engineering dealings between China and Japan. Kenshin had heard that the man had been brought up and raised in Shanghai. He had also heard rumors that Yukishiro's father had once been the head of some major triad in China, but had died early on leaving only Enishi and his mother to fend for themselves. Kenshin sighed as he turned around gently closed the door making sure not to make a sound.

"Yes, Heishin. I understand. I don't care what the man says. Just get it done by the end of this week," the man said as he massaged his temples out of frustration. He then looked up and motioned for Kenshin to sit down in the chair across from him. The other man did as he was asked and began taking out papers from within his briefcase.

_Click._

Kenshin looked up to see a pair of turquoise eyes looking at him from behind the glasses.

"You must be Himura Kenshin," he said.

"Hai. It's a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Yukishiro-san." The red-haired man was surprised to see that the head of the company was so young. The man looked like he was in his late twenties or early thirties.

Enishi nodded as he reached over and looked at the papers and folders that Kenshin had taken out from his briefcase. With a steady and concentrated look, the man scanned through all the information and legal documentation.

"I see. So you're having a few of the engineers stationed here in Japan move to China to teach them the mechanics and such," Enishi said as he pushed the bridge of his glasses up higher.

"Hai. We thought that would be the most cost efficient and most beneficial move in this venture."

Enishi nodded as he continued to flip through more papers.

"Excuse me, sir."

The secretary's voice broke through the serious air of the room. Kenshin turned around in his seat and Enishi looked up, a little annoyed by her sudden intrusion.

"I'm sorry, but I have a call for you from Kaoru," she said as she gently closed the door again.

Enishi and Kenshin both reached for the phone in the instant she had left. They stopped when they noticed that both of their hands rested on the phone.

"Excuse me, this will take just a minute," Kenshin said apologetically.

Enishi looked at him, a bit perplexed. "I believe she said that this person was calling for me."

"Oro? I thought she said that Kaoru was calling."

Enishi raised one of his eyebrows. "Yes, she did. My fianc's name is Kaoru."

Kenshin went wide-eyed and then smiled. "I see. I have a young daughter named Kaoru, too."

"What a coincidence. We shall see whose Kaoru this is then," Enishi said as he picked up the phone. "Hello?"

_"Hi Enishi?"_

The man's face relaxed as he heard his fianc's voice on the line and Kenshin could tell that the man was in love with her. Kenshin sat back in the chair and couldn't help but reminisce the times back then when he was with Tomoe. They were such sweet memories.

". . and take care of yourself," the man said as he hung up the phone. He then turned back to Kenshin and smiled slightly. Listening to Kaoru's voice had brightened his day. "Sorry for the delay. It turned out to be my Kaoru in the end."

"That's all right," Kenshin said as he chuckled lightly.

The white-haired man nodded and then went back and picked up the papers scanning through the areas from where he had left off.

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"Aww. Come on Uncle Hiko. You have to do it!" Kaoru-chan whined as she tugged on the sleeve of his arm. "Please. Pretty please!"

He looked at her, a little perplexed at the current situation. "Why can't you get . . what's that guy's name. Kama. Kama-something."

"Kamatari?"

"Yes, that guy."

"But he works with otousan and otousan would be suspicious if Kamatari suddenly missed work and left for a month."

Hiko ground his teeth as he tried to think of another excuse. "Well, the 13th successor of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu is definitely not going to wear any of those girlish undergarment contraptions."

Kaoru looked at him slyly as she stepped back and looked at his physique. "Hmm," she said as she rubbed the bottom of her chin with one of her hands. "I don't think you need one. You look like a size C to me."

Hiko's jaw almost dropped to the floor. "A. . a what?"

Kaoru giggled as she pointed to Hiko's chest. "You know . . . your breasts."

The man looked down at his brea-, correction, chest and was aghast. He lifted up a finger and pointed at his chest adamantly, trying to justify his manliness. "These . . these are not breasts! They're muscles girl! Muscles!"

The little girl looked up and laughed. "It's okay. They won't be able to tell."

"Girl . ." Hiko sneered through his lips as he narrowed his eyes.

"Please Uncle Hiko," she said with the most innocent look she could use on him. The man was about to say something else, but stopped and looked at her. He looked away again and opened his mouth. There was no way he would sacrifice his manhood for some matchmaking plan. Absolutely not.

"N . ."

He turned back and couldn't help but notice how wide and sad her purple hues were. He sighed. _If only I didn't care for Kaoru so much_.

"All right, but don't you dare mention this to another soul," he warned in a whisper. "Especially not to my baka deshi."

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* * *

Kenshin came back and sighed happily as he took out his house keys and began to unlock the door. The meeting was a success and the project would start as soon as next month. The past week had been incredibly busy with meeting after meeting with people that would become enlisted to do the work in Beijing. He did not see much of Enishi Yukishiro after the first meeting because the man had to go back to China to deal with some other business.

He breathed in deeply and closed his eyes happily as he stepped inside the house as he put down his suitcase near the front door. Kenshin felt relaxed and refreshed when he breathed in that scent of home. His opened his eyes and his heart beat happily at the thought of seeing his precious daughter again.

"Kaoru!" Kenshin called.

"Kaoru! I'm home!"

Silence.

Kenshin grew worried as he quickened his steps and moved towards Kaoru's bedroom upstairs. "Kaoru? Your otousan's home." He reached the front of the bedroom door and opened it. It was all empty except for a note left on the counter of the girl's desk.

_To Otousan._

Kenshin's eyes widened as he rushed to pick up the paper. He read through the letter word by word, his eyes becoming a bit watery.

_I decided to go to the Kendo summer camp with Uncle Hiko. I hope you'll understand. I'll miss you otousan. Don't be too lonely without me, okay? I love you._

He should have known that this would happen especially with his shishou looking after the girl. Kenshin sighed. Actually, it was probably his shishou's idea to take her there in the first place and leave the note. There was nothing that he could do about it now. He shouldn't have been so hard on her in the beginning he thought to himself as he read over the note again. After all, the summer camp would be good for Kaoru. She always had an interest in the art of kendo and also the girl could make new friends when she is there.

"Oh, Kaoru-chan. I miss you so much already," he said to himself as he looked around the empty room with the letter clutched within his hands.

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_Vroom_

Hiko grumbled something inaudible underneath his breath as he looked out the window. It was the middle of the night and little Kaoru had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He didn't know how he had gotten into this mess in the first place. They were now traveling by rickety old bus and had already gone a hundred miles away from Tokyo.

"Hi purty lady," a masculine voice said in a suggestive tone from behind him.

Not to mention, Hiko Seijuuro, the thirteenth successor of Hiten Mitsurugi Ryu was now wearing a long, flowery dress.

Hiko twitched his eyes. Without waking up Kaoru, he turned around halfway in his seat and using nothing more than a finger, flicked the man hard on the forehead causing the poor man to lose consciousness. Hiko then turned back around and went back to the business of staring out the window.

He scratched his neck. The frills on the neckline of the dress were irritating his skin.

"Damn, how do women deal with this?" Hiko cursed.

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- To be continued

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**Author's Notes:**

Please read and review! Thanks much. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Hopefully I'll be able to update this story again soon along with "A Memory Forgotten" and the final chapter of "Saitou's Adventures in Babysitting." By the way, if you enjoy samurai-type anime series, there's a new one out called "Shura no Toki." It's about a man named Mutsu Yakumo who practices a non-weapon based martial art. In the series currently, he's fighting to protect a girl,who coincidentally looks almost exactly like Kaoru. ;P Hehehe. It's interesting so far and I think it has a lot of potential. You can download it off of www.animesuki.com with bittorrent.

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